


Strength Freely Given (Book 1)

by BookKeeper88



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2020-12-17 07:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 60,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21050915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookKeeper88/pseuds/BookKeeper88
Summary: Esme is the fifth child born to the Head of the Ancient and Royal House of Archard. Despite their respected position, tragedy strikes, forcing Esme and her family to leave all they once knew  behind for a new life in England. Her family has worked hard to move on from their tragic past and Esme is determined to look toward the future. Follow her through her 1st year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Will Esme be able to find her place in this strange new environment? Will she be able to survive through the various adventures that arise around the famous Boy-Who-Lived? Only time can tell.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> All of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and the Archard family belongs to me. All French and spells will be italicized if they appear and the French translations will be provided. Please review!

3rd Person POV

The sun was beginning to set over the small hillside, draping the nearby mansion in the soft evening light. A lone male figure could be seen standing near the rail of the second story balcony, gazing out over the small gardens, and beyond the field to the forest-line. The soothing tones of a lullaby danced along with the small breeze, breaking the silence that had been brought with the descent of day into night. Everything was peaceful, except the man on the balcony could not help but feel uneasy, as though a terrible storm were stirring on this Halloween night.

As he began to move away from the rail, he raised his hand, which contained a thin piece of wood resembling a small twig, and whispered, “_Cave Inimicum,_” sparking a shield to envelop the mansion, which became visibly hazy before fading unseen. Satisfied with his work, the man moved into the mansion, following the gentle sounds of the lullaby that led him to an illuminated doorway at the end of the hallway. He stopped at the door frame, gazing tenderly upon the room’s occupants. Every time he watched her, the man could not completely believe his luck for finding his love.

As the song ended, the woman turned in her chair, a smile on her face upon seeing the man. In doing so, she revealed a young girl, no older than two, fast asleep on the small bed before her.

“Come to say goodnight?” she asked gently, her musical voice dancing with happiness.

Despite his loving gaze, the man’s face remained neutral as he answered her. “Just a brief visit, _ma amour_, before I must leave for my trip. I’ve already reinforced the barrier, and remember if anything should happen-"

“For goodness sake, Ashton, we shall all be fine for a few days without you!” she interrupted, exasperated at having to revisit the same conversation over and over again. Despite the threats, she doubted that anyone had the gall to attack the Archard family.

He turned away slightly to hide the small blush that suddenly appeared on his cheeks. “I’m just worried about you and the children, Diaspora, that is all; especially with your condition.”

Diaspora released a small huff of air. “I’m pregnant, not disabled, dear. I am still a capable witch, and these babies are not due for another four months, at least. If something, by chance, were to happen, we have the house elves to take care of us.”

Ashton turned to face her and moved forward into the room to stand by the bed, facing his lovely wife. “Very well then, I shall see you in a few days at most. This meeting that Dumbledore has called should not take long.” He leaned down to kiss his wife’s forehead. Moving closer to the sleeping child, he whispered, “Good night, _ma petite_ Esme,” and leaned down to kiss the small girl on her brow.

He straightened and turned back to his wife, once again being filled with a sense of uneasiness. Ashton buried the worry within himself and leaned down to give a quick peck on Diaspora’s mouth. He left without a backwards glance, to say good night to his other four children, all of whom were already asleep in their respective beds. Though knowing my twin boys, they’re probably sharing one bed again, he thought to himself, with amusement that could not be seen on his face.

Back in the room, Diaspora smiled lovingly down onto her youngest daughter and brushed her bangs away from her forehead. She moved closer to kiss her little girl and whispered, “I love you, my little butterfly. Dream sweet dreams of love and magic.” Diaspora rose from her chair and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her. She moved carefully up the hallway and down the stairs to the sitting room, mindful of her steps because of her midsection’s ever-growing size.

While walking, Diaspora began to feel a bit queasy. Almost as soon as she sat down on her favorite couch, a house elf appeared with a pop next to her, holding a tea set. He set the tray on the table in front of her and said in a cheerful voice, “Mistress, Tipper brings you ginger tea.”

“Oh, that’s exactly what I need right now! Thank you Tipper,” Diaspora replied gratefully.

Tipper blushed and, while preparing tea for his wonderful Mistress, exclaimed, “Mistress too kind to Tipper! Tipper is happy to serve Mistress!” He handed Diaspora her tea as she sat back and relaxed, content to simply let her mind wander. Tipper popped away, leaving his Mistress to enjoy her quiet thoughts. At some point he came back briefly to inform his Mistress that Master Archard had departed for his trip, then left again. Diaspora soon finished her tea and set the cup and saucer back on the tray. As she settled onto the couch, she could not help but fall asleep.

Diaspora wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep when she suddenly awoke to her house elves’ frantic shouts. “Mistress! Mistress! Mistress, wake up! The house is on fire!” Diaspora could already see and smell the smoke as it began to fill the mansion.

She quickly shouted, “Paddy! Honny! Zimpsy! Dimper! Katcher!” The five house elves all appeared in rapid succession. Despite her fear and worry, Diaspora spoke with a firm voice, “Each of you will gather one of the children and take them to the safe house. Paddy get Alaric. Honny, Blaire. Dimper, Carlisle. Katcher, Dustin. Zimpsy, Esme. Now go!”

All the house elves replied simultaneously with, “Yes, Mistress” and Disapparated to take their charges to safety. Diaspora then wrapped her hand around Tipper’s, finally allowing him to take her to safety.

Once they were in the safe house, Diaspora turned to Tipper. “Tipper, I need you to go and find my husband. Tell him everything that has happened and that we are all safe.”

Tipper replied in a more subdued voice than usual, “Tipper goes and does what Mistress says. Take care Mistress.”

When the elf had disappeared, Diaspora moved to reassure her children, all of whom were gathered on the nearby bed. They had awoken either from the smoke or from the house elves grabbing them, and all five of them were scared, some trying not to cry while others let their tears fall freely. She huddled with them on the large king-sized bed and did all that she could to comfort and keep them calm.

Diaspora, recovering from her own shock, was relieved that no one was hurt. She was burning to ask the house elves about the fire, but she didn’t want to say anything that might further frighten the children. Soon, they all drifted off to sleep from exhaustion, leaving Diaspora as the last one barely awake. Now, she had only one thing on her mind; when whomever was responsible found out they had failed, would they have the nerve to try again?

* * *

Ma amour=my love (female version)

Ma petite=my little (female version)


	2. Letters Arrive

Esme POV

I was walking down the hallway towards the stairs on my way to breakfast early. It was unusually quiet at the moment, even for the time being around 8:30 in the morning. There were twelve of us in this house right now (not including the house elves), and it was rarely ever this quiet. Something was going on; I just know it.

When I reached the landing before the stairs, I paused, narrowing my eyes. Something felt off. Then I heard it – the almost patented snicker of the Devil Twins.

I spun on my heels and walked straight back to the nearby closet, yanking open the door without warning. Out tumbled a mass of brown and a few groans. Not even bothering to give them a moment to start making excuses, I deadpanned, “So, who is your ‘lucky’ victim this time, because I doubt you two would be dumb enough to choose me again.”

Part of the brown mess untangled them self and jumped up, and I quickly identified it as Gérard from his hair that he kept in a low, small nub of a ponytail. “Of c – course not Esme. We would never dream of pranking you again, dear sister,” Gérard quickly replied. I merely raised my eyebrow in disbelief. He was either being a terrible liar or he was simply nervous – personally I was leaning more toward the last option.

Fain finally got back onto his feet, standing next to his twin. I had always secretly loved looking at them side by side, as they truly were perfectly identical. If it wasn’t for their different hair lengths, I doubted any of us could tell them apart.

Striking a defensive stance, Fain said, “Don’t give us that look, Esme. Honest! We were waiting for our nerdier counterparts to come out.”

I let out a sigh of exasperation before saying, “Honestly, you two are entirely hopeless at this. You both need to plan these things out better. What if it was Janette instead of me?” Both of them had the decency to look ashamed at the possibility of accidentally harming our youngest sister. I crossed my arms and cocked my hip before continuing, “I guess I’ll just have to show you two how it’s done. Now, what exactly did you two do this time?”

At my question they perked up with huge smiles on their faces. “It’s simple really, we set up a wire at the top of the stairs,” Fain began.

“When the wire is tripped, it releases slime onto whomever is going down the stairs. That way we won’t get caught in our own trap this time!” Gérard finished.

“Real subtle,” I replied sarcastically, barely able to hold back the urge to roll my eyes. “I can easily lure those two out to spring it.” I made a shooing motion with my arms. “Now go back to your hiding spot and wait. This will take but a moment.” They scurried away, once again piling themselves into the hall closet. With that, I left for the room shared by Carlisle and Dustin.

I didn’t even bother knocking and rushed into the room. Both of the boys were already up and dressed. They turned when I burst in, but it was Carlisle that asked upon seeing my worried face, “Esme? What’s wrong, _petite papillon_?”

Filling my voice with worry, I cried, “I was heading to breakfast early, and when I went past those devil twins. I overheard them say something about messing with both of your autographed brooms!”

Internally I was smirking, as I saw both boys tense up before sprinting out of the room yelling, “**Gérard**! **Fain**! You both are dead if either of you touch our brooms!” It wasn’t long before I heard two very undignified and slightly girlish shrieks, followed by two large thuds.

I ran out of the room back to the top of the stairs. It appeared that when Dustin and Carlisle were hit by the slime, they tripped and fell all the way down the stairs. Now they were sprawled out on the floor at the base of the staircase, covered in sticky green gunk. Fain and Gérard were next to me at the top of the stairs, laughing so hard their faces were turning very bright shades of red.

I suppressed my laughter, and while maintaining my worried face, I carefully stepped down the stairs. I quickly whipped up a few tears and said, “I’m so sorry! I should’ve known those two were tricking me, this is all my fault!” Dropping to my knees near them, I added, “Please don’t be angry with me!” (That’s me, actress extraordinaire.)

Dustin leaned himself up and began to reach out to pat my head in comfort before noticing the sheer amount of slime that coated his arm and hand. Dropping his hand, he soothed, “Ssshhh, it’s alright,_ petite papillon_. None of this is your fault; it’s the fault of those _jumeaux du diable_.”

Meanwhile, Carlisle had gotten back to his feet to glare at the twins at the top of the stairs (who, by the way, were still laughing their heads off). With clear frustration, he growled at them. “Ugh, you two are terrible! It’s bad enough to set up a prank with the risk of injuring the accursed party, but was it really necessary to trick poor Esme like that? You both could have just waited for us to come and kept her from going down the stairs.”

Both Fain and Gérard were now sporting identical looks of surprise and realization. Seeing their faces, I was really starting to struggle to hold in my laughter and keep my face straight. Thankfully, I was only shaking a little bit, which could be mistaken for my ‘crying’. Honestly, sometimes both sets of twins were just too gullible.

Dustin retreated from my side to follow Carlisle back up the stairs. Facing the young twins sternly, Carlisle said, “While we go clean this gunk off ourselves, you two will apologize to Esme and have this mess cleaned up.” Having reached the top of the stairs, Dustin and Carlisle stood in front of Gérard and Fain. Carlisle continued in the same tone. “Then maybe we won’t inform Father of this most recent incident.” The fear of Papa’s anger caused both brown-haired boys to shiver.

With Dustin and Carlisle returning to their room to try to wash off the slime, Gérard called out for Paddy. The house elf promptly appeared with a pop and with his usual flat-line voice. “What will Young Masters be needing Paddy to do?” (The underlying message being, ‘What mess did you two create that I now need to clean up?’).

Gérard sheepishly replied, “Can you clean up the slime off the wall, stairs, and floor before Papa or Maman see it?”

Paddy just stood there, unmoving. After a few breaths he finally blinked once, bowed slightly, and said, “Paddy will clean the mess away, but Paddy cannot stop Master or Mistress from walking by.”

Both Fain and Gérard sighed, relieved that the elf had at least agreed not to outright tell Papa and Maman. This was incredibly generous, considering how loyal he was to Papa and Maman – all of the house elves that came with us here from France were (although Zimpsy definitely had a soft spot for us children, especially Janette. Then again, we all did).

I finally stood up off my knees when Fain and Gérard joined me at the bottom of the stairs. They stood facing me, arms crossed and with a mirrored look of annoyance on their faces. “What are those faces for?” I asked, making my voice sound innocent.

Fain made a scoffing noise, and Gérard replied, “Cut the innocent act, Esme. Why did you pretend that we tricked you? You were supposed to help us, not make them more annoyed at us!”

I dropped my innocent expression and finally let the sly smirk that I’d been suppressing show on my face. “I never said that I would help you.” Both looked like they were ready to start protesting when I cut them off and continued, “I said that I would show you both how it’s done. That is, how to prank and not get caught.”

I watched as realization slowly set in, before shifting to grudging respect and slight annoyance. While raising his hands in surrender, Fain grumbled, “Alright, you win. You got us fair and square.”

Gérard continued, “Fine then. We accept defeat – this time. Now let’s go to breakfast while Paddy cleans up this mess, I’m hungry.” My stomach growled in agreement as all three of us turned and left to go to the dining room.

Despite the delay for the prank, we were still the first of our siblings to arrive. Gérard and I moved away from Fain to go to the other side of the table where our seats were. Since there were so many of us, we each had our own place to sit at the long rectangular table. Papa and Maman sat at the two heads. On Papa’s right-hand side sat Alaric, Carlisle, me, Gérard, and Isabelle, and on his left-hand side sat Blaire, Dustin, Fain, Henrik, and Janette. We sat from oldest to youngest, and because of the Archard family naming tradition, we happened to be sitting alphabetical as well.

Alaric and Blaire are the oldest at fifteen years old, and are fraternal twins. Alaric is almost a younger version of Papa, except for his eyes and shorter hair. He has Maman’s blue eyes. Blaire is also a brunette, which she always pulls back into a high ponytail, and Papa’s dark green eyes.

Next are Carlisle and Dustin, at thirteen years old, and they are the first set of identical twins. Both boys have short, curly, dirty-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a smattering of freckles across their noses. Despite being identical, you can always tell them apart; with Carlisle hair always being in a state of mess while Dustin’s hair was always perfectly combed.

I’m near the middle at eleven years old and I’m the only single born child in my family. I have Maman’s curly, honey-blonde hair that reaches all the way down to my hips. I always use silvery-blue butterfly clips to hold it back out of my face, earning me the nickname _‘petite papillon’_. I have bright, forest green eyes that are just a shade lighter than Papa’s. Maman had always told me my eyes are my best feature because they shine like polished emeralds.

After me are Fain and Gérard at nine, and the only other set of identical twins. They both have brown hair (though Fain kept his short while Gérard kept his a bit longer and pulled back), and they both have Papa’s green eyes and freckles.

Lastly, are the only set of triplets, Henrik, Isabelle, and Janette, who are five years old and fraternal triplets. Henrik has short brown hair and blue eyes. Isabelle shares the same features as Henrik, except she has freckles and longer hair that she keeps French braided with the help of Maman. Janette looks like a small copy of Maman. Though unlike Maman, who braids her hair around her head and down her side, Janette always has twin braids.

As the youngest of us all, Janette tends to be everyone’s favorite, but I am Janette’s favorite. She would often follow me around so much sometimes, that Maman often refer to her as my little shadow. It probably didn’t help much that she looks like a smaller version of me, with the exception of our eyes being different colors. While the rest of our family would sometimes call her ‘Nette’ for short, I am the only one who calls her by her middle name, Maude. She likes that I have a special way of addressing her. For me it often felt as if she was the only one of my siblings to think of me first. The others have their twins that they naturally refer to…except me. I’m the only one alone in my family.

Gérard, Fain, and I hadn’t been sitting long before Alaric arrived, pulling along a very sleepy looking Blaire. He deposited Blaire in her chair, and her head immediately sunk down on top of her empty plate. He shook his head in bemusement as he took his seat opposite of her.

Gérard snickered while Fain looked unsurprised. “You fell asleep reading in the library again, didn’t you?” Blaire merely grunted in return.

I chuckled. “Well, we all know how much Blaire loves her books.”

Alaric smiled over at me. “That is very true, _petite papillon_. If it was not for me going to get her, she surely would be late to breakfast almost every day.” While Alaric was speaking, Isabelle and Janette had entered the dining room and seated themselves in their respective chairs. Alaric switched his attention to them and asked, “Did either of you two check Henrik’s room to see if he was awake?”

Janette sent him an apologetic look while Isabelle answered indignantly, “If he wanted his own room, then he can get himself up!”

To say I was surprised at her words would be an understatement. We all knew that Isabelle had a temper, but her ire was never directed toward Henrik. Those two were extremely close and had even shared a bed, until we came to this place. An idea struck me just as Alaric spoke while frowning, “Belle, that does not sound like you at all. What is bothering you?”

Isabelle crossed her arms and looked away from all of us while letting out an angry huff. We all looked at her expectantly, and even Blaire lifted her head off the table. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gérard and Fain share a look with each other. I was certain they just came to the same conclusion that I did. I hoped so because Isabelle would be much more receptive to the twins than she would be to me.

Fain was the first to speak. “Belle.” Isabelle reluctantly turned to face Fain and, by default, the rest of us. “Just because Henrik decided that he wanted his own room in this new house, doesn’t mean that he loves you any less.” Isabelle eyes began to water, proving my thoughts and his words to be correct.

Blaire spoke up, all signs of her sleepiness gone. “That’s what this is about?” Isabelle nodded. “Oh Belle, you have nothing to fear. This is simply a part of growing up. As we get older, it gets more awkward to share a room or bed with a sibling of the opposite gender. The same thing happened with Alaric and I when we were about your age. Even though we love each other the same as we did before, we just need our own space now that we’re older. Boys and girls just tend to be very different from each other as they grow.”

Shyly Isabelle asked, “So, Henrik still wants to be my triplet?”

We all gave her comforting smiles as Blaire reassured her. “Yes, _ma petite_ Belle. Now how about you go get Henrik for breakfast? It’s almost nine, so Father should be coming in soon with Mother.” Isabelle flashed us all a grateful smile before she got up and scurried out of the room.

Janette also turned toward us and grinned. “_Merci grande sœur_. She wouldn’t listen to me.”

I nodded. “There’s nothing you could have done, Maude, she just needed another person aside from her twin to say what her mind was telling her hurt heart.”

Not long after I spoke, Maman glided into the room. We all exchanged good morning greetings with her before she asked us, “Where are Carlisle, Dustin, Henrik, and Isabelle? Your father will be here soon, he just had to stop because an owl came unexpectedly this morning.”

Before any of us could reply, all four of our missing siblings barreled into the room and scrambled into their seats. Maman was about to make some sort of amused quip when the reason for their actions walked into the room.

Papa calmly entered the dining room, walking with his hands held behind his back and looking as regal as ever. As he rounded the corner behind a very flushed Carlisle, I saw a flash of darkish-yellow. It must be the letter that the owl had brought this morning, but why would Papa bring it to the dining room with him?

Papa sat down, placing what I could now see clearly as a bundle of letters on the right side of his plate. He looked over all of us. “Good morning children.” With a glance toward Fain and Gérard he continued, “I noticed that some of you had quite the eventful morning.” Both of them froze. I was sure they forgot to breath for a minute there before Papa just continued after a slight pause. “No matter, It’s time for breakfast.”

It was then that the house elves from the kitchen entered, each floating two large silver platters. With a full English breakfast laid out before us, we all dug in as much as we could while still maintaining the strict table manners that Papa insisted we all practice (whether we had company over or not). Though the only ones who struggled to not make a mess were my younger siblings, and occasionally Fain and Gérard when they decided to mess around.

Throughout the meal we all chatted with each other, being careful not to get too loud. Because of this, everyone could hear when Janette addressed Papa in her shy, soft voice. “Papa, when are we going home?” All conversations stopped.

Papa waited a breath before he answered her. “This is our home now, _ma petite_ Janette.” This was the same answer that he had said to the rest of us when we had previously asked, and it did not please her. We all could see the tears gathering in her bright blue eyes.

Isabelle then jumped in, her annoyance clear. “But why do we have to stay here? Maman said this was only a vacation!”

Maman then interjected, trying to placate Isabelle and calm down Janette at the same time, “Sweethearts, this started as a vacation, but due to certain reasons we will not be returning to France.”

Isabelle shot back, getting more and more upset, “What reasons!? What happened that we can’t go home!?!” Her yelling was not helping Janette calm down, and it was starting to distress Henrik as well.

Maman tried again. “Sweetheart, there’s just some things that you’re not ready—”

Papa interrupted Maman, “It’s alright, Diaspora. We should just tell them; this does affect all of them the most.” Maman gave her consent while moving Janette out of the chair and into her lap to try to comfort her.

We looked to Papa expectantly, waiting for his explanation. Papa took a deep breath before he began his explanation in a resigned voice. “As you all know, the Archard family is one of the oldest families in the French Wizarding Community, with connections through the old kings of France and being directly descended from Merlin himself. Our family is known to be quite powerful, which is why we are often referred to as royalty by other wizarding families. However, we still faced some problems, those being some of the other families looking toward us with jealousy, envy, or greed in their eyes.”

I remembered once overhearing Maman warning Alaric, Blaire, Carlisle, and Dustin against certain boys and girls for those very reasons.

“When I proposed to your mother, the family approved of her. However, the other old wizarding families did not. They wanted one of their daughters to be my wife and were outraged that an Englishwomen was going to be the new Lady Archard. That was when the threats against our family began.”

I failed to mask my surprise. Threats? I had never heard of this before.

His explanation did not stop there. “But just as our crest says, _debout fort;_ we stand strong. The family supported my decision to marry your mother. We all prepared for every sort of attack that we could think of. But in the end, it was not enough. We had prepared for magical attacks, not any through Muggle means. Several fire attacks began after your mother first became pregnant with Alaric and Blaire.”

Fire? A shot of fear raced through me as I suddenly got a flash of an old memory; a vague picture of my bedroom door ablaze, the feeling of heat, and breathing smoke filled air.

“We could not find the culprits, so the attacks continued on throughout the years; once even occurring when I was not present to protect your mother and those of you who were with us at the time.”

That had to be the night that I was sort of remembering.

“A few months ago, before this trip began, the attacks claimed the lives of your grandparents, my own twin brother, my twin sisters, and their children.”

I could not help but gasp from shock – and I was not the only one. Papa gave us a moment. “It was Albus Dumbledore, an old acquaintance of our family from here, that convinced me to bring us to England. He promised to protect us from the same fate as the rest of our family. He fulfilled his promise a few weeks ago. The culprits were caught and sentenced to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. Even with the danger now past, I made the decision for all of us to stay here, in England.”

Dustin started to interject, “But- “

Papa finished as though Dustin had never started speaking. “Our family home was badly burned and, while fixable, I did not wish for all of you to be raised in a house holding such dark memories. This is our home now. I have already accepted a position at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Our family has also been awarded a chair on the Wizengamot and the Wizard’s Council, which I shall be sitting in as Head of the Family. France is no longer a place that I can trust with our family’s safety.”

We all just sat there, too stunned to move. Janette had calmed down during Papa’s explanation and sat frozen on Maman’s lap. I wasn’t sure how much the three five-year-olds actually understood, but the overall message was unmistakable. England was home now. Considering what had happened in France, I could not fault Papa with his decision, and I was positive that I was not the only one currently thinking that.

After what felt like ten minutes, (but was actually about thirty seconds), Maman spoke, with her ever-present smile slightly muted, “I know that this is a lot to take in, but I’m afraid that there is one more thing that we must tell you.” She paused slightly before continuing. “Those of you who have been attending Beauxbatons will not be returning.”

Blaire quickly responded. “What!? But what about our educations? Are we now forbidden from studying and using magic?”

Maman’s tinkling laughter echoed around the room as her smile returned full force. “Oh, _ma chérie_ Blaire, do not worry! You shall still receive your education. Instead, all of you who are eleven years or older shall be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the coming month or so.”

I quickly did the math. That meant that Alaric, Blaire, Carlisle, Dustin, and I would be going this year. I wasn’t entirely sure at the moment if what I was feeling was excitement or fear, but it was thrilling all the same.

Papa cleared his throat, pulling me from my thoughts, and held up the letters that he had brought with him. He answered our unasked question. “These are acceptance letters for Alaric, Blaire, Carlisle, Dustin, and Esme, all of whom shall be attending this year.” As Papa spoke, he had my siblings pass down the letters to their owners. Carlisle handed mine to me, and I looked at the letter. There written plainly in emerald-green ink was:

**Ms. E. Archard**

**Heaven’s Gardens**

**Ottery St. Catchpole**

**Devon**

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment. Turning it over, I found a purple wax seal bearing what I figured had to be the Hogwarts coat of arms. It depicted a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large capital ‘H’. I looked up and noticed that my siblings had already begun opening their letters. Looking down again, I quickly broke the seal and pulled out the letter.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)**

**Dear Ms. Archard, **

**We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**

**Yours sincerely, **

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Deputy Headmistress**

The headmaster was Albus Dumbledore, the man that Papa said had helped us. I wondered how much of a coincidence that was. I couldn’t seem to remember much about this man, but I did know that I had heard his name before. Suddenly, an image popped into my head; a hawk-like bird that seemed to be on fire. That was odd. I shook my head, banishing the image.

Good thing too, because Papa was speaking again. “Your mother will be taking you five shopping to get your school supplies today. The rest of you will remain on the grounds while I must head to the Ministry to finalize some paperwork.” He looked directly at Fain and Gérard as he said, “Do at least try to behave yourselves and not make too big of a mess for the house elves to clean up.”

The twins thankfully had the decency to appear sheepish under Papa’s gaze. But, knowing them, they already had some sort of dangerous activity planned to keep themselves occupied.

Maman clapped her hands while smiling brightly. “Alright children, if you’re all done with breakfast, then you may be excused. You five, go back up to your rooms and change into your robes. I will meet you all in twenty minutes in front of the large fireplace. We will be using the Floo Network to travel to Diagon Alley.”

I looked down at my mostly empty plate. After the most recent events, I was no longer hungry. I excused myself and left to go put on one of my nicer robes.

Once I had gone up the stairs and was making my way down the hall toward my room, I felt two arms wrap around me, one around my shoulder and another around my waist. Then Gérard’s voice piped up from beside me. “_Ma petite papillon_, you won’t forget to say goodbye, right?”

I already knew where this was heading. I asked in a bored voice, “What do you two want?”

Fain replied with false hurt, “Why my sweet _petite papillon,_ we only wish to say goodbye to our favorite sister, who we love so very much.”

Having reached my door, I disengaged from their grasp to open the door. I walked in and allowed both boys to follow me in before I shut the door. I turned to face them and said sternly, “Firstly, I doubt I am your favorite sister to begin with. Secondly, you only call me _petite papillon_ when you both want something. Now out with it.”

Gérard sighed and commented, “Your smartiness never ceases to amaze us, sister dear.”

“Smartiness isn’t a real word.”

Fain continued waving off my comment and asked, “Could you please, pick us some magical prank supplies while shopping?”

I smirked while bringing one hand to my chin and the other on my elbow in a thinking pose, making a humming noise as I did. I counted to ten in my head, letting them sweat it just a bit. I dropped my hands and placed them behind my back to give my answer. “I will do as you ask.” Both immediately brightened, flashing me excited smiles until I continued, “If you do something for me.”

Their smiles faded to looks of wariness. Gérard asked, “What do you want in return?”

I smiled sweetly at them. “You two have to write me letters while I am at school to keep me updated on the happenings here and all of your welfare.”

Both boys were slightly stunned at my request, because they probably had been thinking I was going to make them do something awful. They snapped out of it and came up to me, sandwiching me between them in a hug. Both of them murmured, “We can easily do that, _petite papillon_.” After a pause they pulled away slightly. “You know, we do love you.”

I couldn’t help but smile, feeling warm inside at their words. “I love you both too.” Breaking the sappy atmosphere that they had created, “Now get out so I can get ready. I’ll see you both later with your supplies.” They released me from their embrace, bid me goodbye, and left my room, closing the door tightly behind them.

I went straight to my closet and searched for the robe that I had in mind. Finding it, I quickly pulled it on over my white sundress with loose short sleeves. I looked into the mirror to check my appearance. The robe I had selected was black, with green edging that matched my eyes, and a baby blue inside lining. It had long flowing sleeves, a hood, and a silver clasp butterfly shaped that matched the pins already pinning the sides of my hair back.

Satisfied, I left my room and headed down to the fireplace where Maman had told us to meet her at. I was the last to arrive.

We gathered around Maman, and she quickly explained how to use the Floo. She had Alaric go first, followed by Blaire, then Carlisle, and Dustin, leaving me to go last before her. Feeling nervous, I grabbed a handful of the acid green powder and approached the fireplace. I stepped into the fireplace and threw the Floo Powder down. I said as clearly as I could, “Diagon Alley!” closed my eyes as the green flames rose.

* * *

Petite papillon=little butterfly

Jumeaux du diable=devil twins

Maman=mom

Papa=dad

Ma petite=my little (female)

Merci=Thank you

Grande sœur=big sister

Debout fort=standing strong

Ma chérie=my dear (female)

Ma petite papillon=my little butterfly


	3. Diagon Alley

3rd Person POV

It was a beautiful morning to be in Diagon Alley. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, making the cauldrons outside the shops shine. The alley was busy despite the early hour, with people and students milling about and doing their shopping. 

Inside the Leaky Cauldron, the Floo station suddenly roared to life. Out stepped a teenaged boy with wavy light brown hair. He looked around quickly before he turned back toward the Floo station as it came to life again. This time a teenaged girl with similar features stepped out. She briefly glanced around while moving forward to stand by the boy. 

Once again, the green flames sprang forth, revealing another teenaged boy, though he had short, dirty blonde hair. He looked around nervously around the pub before moving to the slightly older-looking boy, tripping slightly as he exited the floo station.

Soon after, the Station flared again, depositing yet another teenaged boy on the brick beside the others. He greatly resembled the previous boy, except that his hair was significantly neater. As he moved toward the other blonde-haired boy, he didn’t glance around at all.

Next, a young girl with long, curly honey-blonde hair emerged, moving quickly out of the way and to the older girl’s side. While she looked around, her face remained neutral, except for a small smile.

The Floo station came to life once more. Bystanders could not help but think, ‘Is another one about to come through? There’s already a lot of young children waiting.’ Their curiosity was quickly filled when, at last, an adult stepped out of the green flames. The woman appeared to be in her late 20s to early 30s, with long blonde hair; the same as the youngest girl’s.

She ushered the group of children onward to the small courtyard that contained the entrance to the alley. Not all of the children fit in the room and stuck out into the main room. The patrons of the Leaky Cauldron heard the sounds of the alley entrance forming and lost sight of the large group. 

On the other side of the brick archway, witches and wizards milling about caught sight of the woman taking the hand of the youngest girl as she led the children down the alley. The other children paired up while walking behind the women (who bystanders assumed to be their mother), with the older girl and boy bringing up the rear.

Passersby could see the curiosity and child-like wonder that was shown on most of the children’s faces, but despite their obvious eagerness to go off and explore, none of the children paused in front of the many different shops. They all continued to obediently follow the young woman at their head. Many observers shared the same thought, ‘I wonder who they are?’

Diaspora POV

I really had to make sure I was not walking too fast. Though I knew none of the children would wander off, I did not want to risk anyone getting separated. None of them had ever been here before, and I did not want any of them to stumble onto Knockturn Alley on their first visit. Being able to once again walk through Diagon Alley made me feel nostalgic. Not much had changed over the years.

It might not be the best of circumstances, but I was glad we came here to England. It was even better that all my children would be going to Hogwarts. I could not help but to wonder which Houses they would be sorted into. 

Hufflepuffs tended to run in my family, with the odd Gryffindor here and there. A few of them were easy to label. Alaric would certainly become a Gryffindor while Carlisle and Dustin were obviously Hufflepuffs. Blaire was a bit trickier than the boys. I could easily imagine her in Ravenclaw, but would she want to be separated from her twin?

That left my little Esme, the quiet one. She could very well turn out to be a Hat-stall. She had always been more reserved and a bit different from her siblings; and while some of the other children did not see it yet, little Esme was a sharp one. She definitely inherited that mask ability of Ashton’s that he used at work in the Ministry. I hoped Esme would be placed with her siblings; it would make the transition much easier for her. 

Breaking out of my train of thoughts, I could feel the looks and occasional stares of the witches and wizards that we passed. If they were already staring with just five of my children with me, I wondered what they would do if they saw all ten of them together. I giggled a bit at the thought of their jaws dropping. That would just be too funny!

Esme POV

I heard Maman giggling to herself next to me, and I glanced up at her as we walked. She was looking straight ahead, but I could see her eyes moving around with her usual bright smile upon her face. I had no idea what she could be giggling about now, but with her happy personality, it could be anything. Eh, it didn’t really matter in the end.

I refocused my attention on the various shops and windows we passed as we walked down the alley. I could hear the low hooting coming from a dark shop with a dark wooden sign reading Eeylops Owl Emporium: Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. 

A bit further down, I could see several children about my age with their noses pressed up against a storefront window. I couldn’t exactly see what they were looking at, but I heard one of them whisper, “Oh, look at it! It’s the fastest one yet!” 

As we continued walking, we passed different shops, selling everything from robes to cauldrons to telescopes. We passed an apothecary, with its windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels’ eyes. Another shop had books towered in tottering piles inside. I could easily imagine Blaire drooling at the sight.

Finally, we arrived at a large, snowy-white building which towered over all the other little shops around it. There beside its bronze double doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, I could see what I guessed was a goblin. 

The creature was about half a head or so shorter than I, with a swarthy, angular face, a pointed beard, and very long fingers and feet. He bowed as all of us walked past him inside. Now I could see a second pair of doors. These were silver, with large block words engraved upon them:

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**   
**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**   
**For those who take, but do not earn,**   
**Must pay most dearly in their turn,**   
**So if you seek beneath our floors**   
**A treasure that was never yours,**   
**Thief, you have been warned, beware**   
**Of finding more than treasure there.**

Wow, I thought, anyone stupid enough to try to steal something after reading that must truly be an idiot. A pair of goblins bowed us all through the silver doors, and we entered a huge marble hall. I could see dozens of goblins sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass colored scales, and squinting at precious stones through strange looking eyeglasses. There were far too many doors for me to count leading off the hall, with even more goblins leading people in and out.

As we were about to pass one of these hallways, a very large and slightly green looking man walked out with a boy that looked about my age. Normally, the sight of such a tall person would hold my interest, but for some reason my eyes were drawn to the boy in glasses. 

We stopped to let them move by in front us. The large man nodded to Maman as he drawled out, “Excu’ us, mam.” As they passed us, my eyes made contact with the boy’s. I gave him a small smile as if to say hi. He blinked and hesitantly smiled back. 

Suddenly, the image of a stag popped into my head. Huh, that’s a weird thing to think about at a time like this, I thought. I shook the image away as Maman began walking forward again. I turned my head over my shoulder to watch them head for the exit. I felt like I would be seeing him again soon for some reason. Still looking over my shoulder, I could see that I wasn’t the only one of my siblings to watch them leave; both Carlisle and Dustin watched them too (but I think their focus was more on the large man than the small boy).

Finally, Maman led us toward the counter. She greeted the goblin in front with her usual cheerful voice, “Good morning, I have come to make a withdrawal from the Archard family vault.”

The goblin replied evenly, “Do you have your key, Mrs. Archard?”

Maman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small golden key, handing it to the goblin. He looked at it closely, then finally said, “It all seems to be in order. I will have someone take you down to the vault. Griphook!”

This last word was shouted to a goblin standing nearby. As we all approached, Griphook looked at all of us behind Maman, then looked at Maman and said slowly, “There are too many of you. The children will have to wait here.”

Maman dropped my hand to turn to face us all. “Alright sweethearts, go wait by that bench over there. Do not wander about or cause trouble, I will be back shortly.”

We all replied “Yes” at almost the exact same time.

With that, Maman left us and followed Griphook toward one of the doors. Alaric pulled me to his side, putting me between Blaire and himself as we all walked over to the bench and sat down. I sat in the middle, and the twins huddled together on the other side of Blaire.

While my siblings talked amongst themselves, I quietly watched the goblins go about their work. One goblin was weighing a pile of rubies, each the size of a piece of coal, while another was slowly taking galleons out of a large bag and weighing them piece by piece. 

After a while, I was starting to get bored. Suddenly, Blaire jumped to her feet next to me. I followed where she was looking to see Maman heading toward us, a large bag now attached to her hip. She took my hand again and led us out into the sunlight outside of Gringotts.

Maman once again turned to us. She looked over all of us and nodded her head a few times, obviously coming to some sort of decision in her mind. She then said, “Since you all have been very well behaved today, I am going to trust you all to go do your school shopping while I go run a few errands of my own. One stipulation is at least one of you must accompany Esme. Sorry sweetheart, but you are too young to be on your own yet.”

All our eyes widened in shock. She was going to let us go off on our own? This had never happened before. Both Maman and Papa had always kept us together when we left the estate. Maybe with the dangerous people gone, Maman could trust us to be on our own. Though I won’t be on my own entirely, this was still exciting.

She reached into the large bag on her hip and pulled out five smaller bags. She handed one to each of us; they were a lot lighter than I was expecting. Sensing our confusion, Maman explained, “The small bags I have given each of you are charmed to carry more than the size suggests. Just reach in while thinking about the item you wish to grab, and you will be able to pull it out.”

That was cool! I wondered what spells and charms went into making these bags?

She continued. “However, it can only hold so many things. I suggest asking the clerks to shrink your items to fit them all in your bags.” She began to wave us off. “Oh! One more thing – you **cannot** put animals in these bags. Alright sweethearts, please meet me in front of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour in exactly three hours. If you are all on time, we can get ice cream.”

We all agreed enthusiastically, and after a quick goodbye to Maman we headed on our way. Carlisle and Dustin hurried ahead, obviously deciding to be by themselves. Alaric and Blaire reached down to grab one of my hands, placing me between them. “We’ll shop together, Esme,” Alaric said while smiling widely down at me as we began walking down the alley away from Maman.

“Great,” I unenthusiastically said.

“What~, don’t you want to shop with your _grand frère, petite papillon_?”

“No, she’d rather shop with her _grande sœur_,” said Blaire smugly.

“_Oui!_” I agreed happily. Blaire and I shared a laugh while Alaric pouted in a ‘manly’ way (he insisted).

Blaire took the parchment envelope out of her robe pocket and I wordlessly handed her mine. As she read over both list she said, “Other than the books, our lists are similar. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up from there.”

The three of us first went and bought a cauldron and other supplies we needed for potions class. While we were there, I also bought a telescope I needed, while Alaric and Blaire picked up some equipment they needed for their specialized classes they were taking.

“Let’s go to the broomstick shop next! I need to buy some maintenance supplies for my broom,” said Alaric.

I really didn’t want to go to the broomstick shop, so I asked, “May I please go get my wand? The shop is just over there, so I won’t be far.”

Blaire and Alaric shared a look and communicated silently. Finally, Blaire spoke, “Alright. Acquiring your wand could take from a moment to a while depending on how soon a wand chooses you. Therefore, when you are done, meet us at the bookshop Flourish and Blott’s. It’s right over there.” She pointed out the shop to me; it wasn’t that far down the alley.

“Thank you! I’ll meet you there as soon as I am done.” I hugged Blaire quickly and Alaric patted my head before they turned and entered the broomstick shop. 

I slowly started walking down the alley, toward the wand shop. The shop was a narrow and shabby looking storefront. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Maker of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings as I headed for the door, and I was suddenly knocked down by something quite large just before I reached it. I softly gasped in pain when I landed on the ground. I glanced up to see what I had run into, only to find myself craning my neck to look up at the large man from the bank.

“I’m sorry lil’ one, I didn’t see yeh there! Are you hurt?”

I blinked up at him. “Oh no, it’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going anyways.” 

The large man smiled down at me and said, “Here, lemme help yeh up.” He reached down and easily picked me up, setting me carefully on my feet. 

Once I was steady, I smiled up at the man and then over to the boy next to him as I introduced myself. “_Merci monsieur_, for helping me up. My name is Esme Archard.” Remembering my etiquette lessons, I lifted my hand out in front of me toward the large man. Instead of kissing my hand like I expected, he simply grasped it in a handshake. Perhaps, I wondered, the hand kissing is only done in France. I would have to ask Maman later.

With a friendly look on his face, he introduced himself. “Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. But yeh can call me Hagrid.”

I grinned with slight excitement. “Oh, you’re from Hogwarts, what a coincidence! I’m actually shopping for my school supplies right now; I’m going to be starting my first year there soon.”

Hagrid seemed to become even more cheerful, if that was possible. “Ah I reckoned that yeh be going to that French school with that accent of yours. But it’s nice that yeh be going to Hogwarts, best school around in my opinion.” Even though Hagrid’s size intimidated me a little, he seemed nice, and he had been gentle when he picked me up off the ground.

Hagrid continued, turning toward the boy, “Well it’s nice to meet a fellow first-year, eh, Harry?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! How rude of me.” I held out my hand. “I’m Esme Archard.”

He momentarily hesitated before reaching for my hand. When he did, he answered in a quiet voice. “Hi, I’m Harry…Potter.” He seemed to be bracing himself for something as he let go of my hand. He seemed uncomfortable. Maybe he was just the shy sort.

I quickly pulled my face into a gentle smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Harry. It’s great to meet another first-year. I’ve been nervous about going to a new school, and now I’ll know at least one other person.”

Harry seemed to relax at my reply, and his lips stretched into a smile. His face seemed to light up slightly, too. This Harry Potter was a strange one (though I only had my siblings to compare him to). Yet, I was also sensing that I was missing something. Interrupting my chain of thought, Hagrid announced, “Well, I reckon we all best be getting ‘yer wands now.” 

“Oh! Yes of course.” 

Hagrid opened the door for Harry and me. As Harry walked past me, I noticed he picked up a large cage which held a snowy owl (it looked kind of familiar… I was sure it was nothing), who was fast asleep with her head under her wing. 

“Aw, she’s so cute.” 

When Harry glanced back at me and smiled, I realized I had said that last part out loud. I could feel my cheeks burn a bit in embarrassment. Ugh, I never made mistakes like that. Get it together Esme, I reminded myself. You can’t make a fool of yourself in front of the first non-family member you’ve met.

Inside the shop, I could hear a tinkling bell ring somewhere in its depths. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair, which Hagrid sat on to wait. Looking around the entrance, I thought it looked and felt almost like a library, with the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly, right up to the ceiling. The dust-filled air tickled my nose, and I could also sense the magic that seemed to float in the air and radiate from the man approaching the counter.

“Good afternoon,” whispered the man as he came around the counter. Harry jumped, and Hagrid must have jumped too, because there was a loud crunching noise coming from his direction. I guess neither of them had noticed the man’s approach as I had.

The man stood calmly in front of us, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom in the shop. Harry was the first to speak. “Hello,” he said, waving awkwardly.

“Ah yes,” said the man. “Yes, yes. I thought I’d be seeing you here soon. Harry Potter.” He smiled. “You have your mother’s eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work.”

The man, who had to be the owner, Ollivander, moved closer to Harry. They seemed to be locked in a creepy staring match with each other. Ollivander continued speaking while moving closer to Harry. “Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it; it’s really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.”

Ollivander was now so close to Harry that they were almost nose to nose. Honestly, I didn’t think either of them were blinking; this was a creepy wandmaker. “And that’s where…” Ollivander began as he touched the scar on Harry’s forehead with a long, white finger. I’d never noticed the scar before now. It was oddly shaped, like a young child’s drawing of a lightning bolt.

“I’m sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,” Ollivander said softly. “Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…Well, if I’d known what that wand was going out into the world to do…” I was filled with confusion as questions began to rise in my mind; who was Ollivander talking about? And what did this witch or wizard have to do with Harry?

Ollivander shook his head, then looked up and spotted Hagrid behind us (though with his size, Hagrid was hard to miss, in my opinion). Ollivander must have been really focused on Harry; I wondered if he even knew that I was here too. The feeling of being overlooked was not new to me, so I decided to wait until the wandmaker would finally notice me.

I turned to Harry and quietly said, “He certainly is a…curious individual.”

Harry chuckled a bit. “I do find it amazing he has such a good memory, to remember my parents and both their wands after so long.”

We both stood awkwardly, neither of us were sure how to continue. Harry quietly asked, “So…what House do you think you’ll be in at Hogwarts?”

I smiled softly and said, “Well, pretty much everyone in my family to go to Hogwarts was in Hufflepuff.”

Harry got an excited look in his eye. “Oh good! I think that I’ll be in Hufflepuff. So, then we’ll be in the same House together!”

"_Que c'est chouette!_" I exclaimed.

Harry sent me a puzzled look and asked, "What was that?"

"Oh, sorry. It was a reflex. It was French. ‘How lovely’ would be the closest translation.”

"So, from that and your accent, you came here from France, right?"

"Yes, my family moved here this summer." Feeling embarrassed about what I was about to admit, I looked at the ground and said softly, "You're… actually the first friend I've made here."

"Friends? We're friends?" Harry said hesitantly.

Embarrassed by my assumption, I quietly said, "Oh…I didn't mean to assume anything."

Harry interrupted me with a shy smile, "No! That's not it. I was just surprised. I would like us to be friends.”

It was then that Ollivander suddenly turned toward me. “Well now, young miss, you are certainly Diaspora Macmillan’s young daughter. Yes…ten inches, unicorn hair, made of poplar wood, and quite rigid I recall. She married that French wizard, I didn’t make his wand, oh, what was his name…”

“Ashton Archard, Monsieur Ollivander, and I am their middle child, Esme Archard.” I quickly introduced myself. I guess he did know I was here after all.

After I spoke, he walked closer to me. His misty eyes seemed to stare into my soul with how intently he appeared to be observing me. I didn’t know how much time passed before he stated (rather than asked), “You do not have a twin.”

To say I was shocked was an understatement. My surprise was reflected both on my face and in my voice. “No sir, I don’t.”

As I stared into his eyes, they seemed to sharpen ever so slightly. The wandmaker backed up to face Harry and me both at once. “Right then, who shall go first? Hmm, perhaps ladies first as the saying goes.” 

Harry looked visibly relieved he would not be going first, while I did not mind at all. In fact, it was better this way, so I could catch up to my siblings faster.

He turned to me. “Well now, Miss Archard, which is your wand arm?” he said as he took out a tape measure.

“My right,” I replied, holding it out. The tape measure sprang to life and began to measure me in all sorts of random places. It even measured the space between my eyes! I found it rather uncomfortable and was quite happy when Ollivander called it off. He began sorting through the shelves, taking down a few boxes here and there.

“Right then, Miss Archard. Try this one. Acacia and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Pliable. Give it a wave.” I took the wand from his hand and had just begun to wave it when he pulled it back.

“Try this one. Cypress and phoenix feather. Nine inches. Nice and sturdy.” I tried and only got halfway through the motion before it, too, was snatched away.

“No, no not that one. Here, beechwood and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, slightly bendy. Go on, give a whirl.” I tried and tried again on the next few wands, but nothing happened each time. Ollivander seemed to get happier after each failure, a grin spreading across his lips. He must really enjoy the challenge.

“A tricky customer, eh? Not to worry Miss Archard, we’ll find the perfect match here somewhere. In fact, I wonder, yes, no twin, why not. Silver lime and phoenix feather, twelve inches, slightly swishy.”

Once again, I took the wand from his hand. I felt a sudden warmth in my fingers, and my heartbeat began to pick up. I raised the wand and waved it diagonally across my body. Thin streams of silver and green lights flowed from the end like water. The streams of light danced around the room before slowly fading away.

Hagrid clapped, Harry gave a small cheer, and Ollivander exclaimed, “Oh, well done, well done! Yes, indeed, very good.” He put my wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, muttering, “Well, well, well, how curious...”

Hearing him, I asked, “_Pardon_? What’s that meant to mean _monsieur_?”

“It is curious that you should be destined for a wand of these properties, Miss Archard. I think that we can expect great things from you, though I’m sure you already knew that.”

To say I was once again shocked would have been an understatement. I looked over at Harry to find his face a mirror to my own. At that moment, I felt some sort of connection with this messy haired boy.

Ollivander broke the moment by saying, “Right then, that will be seven galleons for your wand.” I paid Ollivander the gold galleons before turning to Harry and Hagrid. 

I smiled politely at them. “It was a pleasure to meet you both, but I must be going as my siblings are waiting for me. I look forward to our next meeting.” 

I decided to give them each a quick hug goodbye. After I had hugged Harry, I said, “See you in about a month, Harry!”

In a soft voice Harry replied, “Yeah, see you then Esme.”

As I began to walk toward the door, I turned around and quickly added, “Oh and Happy Birthday!” before I bolted out of the shop. I hurried down the alley toward where I was supposed to meet Blaire and Alaric. 

Harry POV

I stood there, slightly stunned. Esme actually wished me happy birthday. Wait… how did she know it was my birthday? Maybe Hagrid mentioned it at some point or something. I thought over meeting Esme. She did seem like a nice and sweet girl, nothing like the others at my old school. I really hoped that we’d be in the same House, but even if we wouldn’t be, I really wanted us to stay friends.

Esme POV

I hurried down the alley, toward the book shop; it was not far away from Ollivander’s. The sign read Flourish and Blott’s in black on a red background, with two large quills painted on either side of the sign. I hurried through the door, eager to get my new books. 

Though it was a bit early in the afternoon, the shop was still quite busy. Despite the crowd, I easily found Blaire. She was holed up in a corner next to a stack of books as tall as I was, reading a particularly large tome.

I had to wave my hand between her eyes and the tome to get her attention. “Hmm, oh Esme! When did you get here?” 

I replied, “Just now. I haven’t gotten my books yet. Where is Alaric? I thought he would be with you?”  
Blaire laughed a bit guiltily. “Well…he got bored waiting and figured I would be here a while, so when Carlisle and Dustin showed up here, he decided to go ahead next door with them to get their robes done. I will actually be a while longer. Why don’t you get your books and then go get your robes. I promise by then I will be done…maybe...”

I sighed and thought, typical Blaire, getting lost in her books. “Very well then.” I left Blaire to her reading and worked my way through the crowd to find all the books I needed. I decided that it was better to just grab my books and leave as quickly as possible; I really didn’t care for crowds all that much. I would ask Alaric to shrink everything into my bag for me.

After paying the 13 gold galleons for all my books, I gathered the tall stack into my arms. I couldn’t see very well over the top, so I guessed I had to trust other people to see me coming and move around me. Besides, I was just going next door; what could happen?

Draco POV

I was walking back toward Flourish and Blott’s, looking for Father and Mother after leaving the broomsticks shop. There were too many filthy little brats in the shop and in my way. It was not like any of those bottom feeders could ever afford a quality racing broom anyways.

Distracted by my thoughts, I failed to see the person heading right for me, carrying a large stack of freshly purchased books.

**BAM!**

I heard a girl’s voice shout “_Merde!_” before I landed on some books, which were soon replaced by something boney. I had closed my eyes during the crash, so now, when I opened them, I was greeted by…a lot of blonde hair.

I took a deep breath to begin to yell at this twit who wasn’t paying attention to where she was going when she interrupted me. “_Excuse-moi,_ could you please get up off me? This is an uncomfortable position, and I’d rather not lie in the dirt for much longer.”

I was shocked that she spoke to me like that, when it was her who had crashed into me. But she used the same tone that Mother did, and my body moved before my mind had comprehended what was going on.

Once I was back on my feet, the girl on the ground also stood up, allowing me to get a better look at her. She was shorter than I was, with pale skin, expensive looking robes, and long, curly, honey-blonde hair. What stuck out to me the most, however, were her eyes; they were the brightest green I had ever seen. Looking at them reminded me of some of the emeralds that Mother wore on occasion.

My short perusal of the girl was interrupted by Father, who had come up behind me at some point and was now facing the girl. “Come now Draco, what seems to be the problem here?”   
I huffed a bit and crossed my arms in front of me. “This girl was carrying too many books and crashed right into me.”

Father looked over the girl, as though trying to figure out where she had come from. “Oh really? And who might you be young lady? I do not believe that I have seen you here before.”

Father’s question seemed to snap the girl out of a daze. “Oh _pardonnez-moi!_ I am Esme Archard, pleasure to make your acquaintance.” While speaking, she held up her right hand to Father.

She had all the proper manners of a pureblooded lady, and Father definitely noticed. His demeanor changed into something more welcoming as he held her hand, kissed it lightly, and answered, “The pleasure is all mine Miss Archard. I am Lord Lucius Malfoy, and this is my son, Draco.” 

When Father introduced me, she held out her hand to me as well, and following all of the etiquette lessons that Mother forced me to do, I lightly kissed her hand and quickly released it. When I glanced at her face, I noticed that her expression had changed from before. It was now politely blank except for a soft smile on her lips, but her eyes didn’t seem to match her smile. They didn’t seem as bright as before.

“I must apologize for running into you, Draco. I was going to ask the store clerk to shrink my books to fit into my bag, but the shop was too busy for him to comply with my request. It was foolish of me to try to walk without looking where I was going.”

Her apology made me feel uncomfortable, as if all my anger and annoyance at her was uncalled for. She also sent me a smile with her apology. I turned slightly away to hide the small blush on my cheeks. Why was I reacting like this to her? She was just some girl. “It’s fine,” I replied. “It was an accident.”

Father then took a step toward her. “If you like, my dear, I could shrink these books for you.”

She gave Father a small smile while grasping her hands together in front of her and replied, “Oh, merci Lord Malfoy. That would be most helpful.”

Father cast the necessary spells to gather her books, straighten them out, then shrink them down for her. Esme then opened the small bag on her hip and placed all of the now shrunken books into the bag. 

“_Merci, encore_, for your help Lord Malfoy, but I must go finish my shopping before I meet up with _ma Maman_,” said Esme before she dropped into a small curtsey while bowing her head a bit. Father and I both slightly bowed to her as well. Esme then walked passed us toward Madam Malkin’s shop and disappeared inside.

I turned toward Father, slightly confused. “Father, why were you that polite to her? Yes, she had the proper manners, but I didn’t recognize her family name.”

Father glanced at me before he started walking away, talking loudly as I followed, “That is, Draco, because you only bothered to memorize the sacred English names. Her family originates from France, as both her word choices and speech patterns indicated. But you must have failed to notice.” I could feel the disappointment in his tone, and hung my head slightly, shame filling me.

He continued his lecture. “_La maison ancienne et royale d’ Archard_ or The Ancient and Royal House of Archard, is among the most sacred in the wizarding world. They are, for all intents and purposes, wizarding royalty, as they are direct descendants of Merlin himself.” My eyes widened in shock; that girl was considered royalty? I had trouble fully processing the thought.

“She is likely a first-year at Hogwarts, if she is shopping for supplies here. As such, you will get close to her, Draco. Any sort of connection to the Archard family will be invaluable to us,” Father finished.

“Yes Father, I understand,” I replied. Even with Father’s order, I found myself wanting to get to know her. The image of her bright green eyes remained in my mind as we made our way back to Mother.

Esme POV

Finally! I’d escaped from that arrogant boy and his creepy papa. That man seemed to appear out of nowhere. Rather than sense his approach, I had failed to notice him until he began to speak. The way he looked at me at first was that of a man looking down at something that had stuck to the bottom of his shoe. But after I gave my name, he was the perfect gentleman. Looking at his demeanor, I just knew that I had to be the perfectly polite lady that Maman taught me to be.

The way that his attitude had changed just proved that he was like the people Papa had told us about at breakfast; those who sought our family’s wealth and power. I would have to be careful around that man from now on. I could still remember that awful image that came to mind when he kissed my hand. I saw a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, made of black smoke. It gave me a very unsettling feeling, like it was vile and evil. This man was not to be trusted.

His son, on the other hand, wasn’t as bad. That boy, what was his name? Oh yes, Draco. He was arrogant, but that wasn’t all that he was. I could sense that there was more to Draco than what meets the eye. I guess if I did see him again, I would be wary but still polite. I couldn’t see him and me becoming friends, with the level of arrogance he currently held. We might never be close friends at all, simply because I would never be able to trust his papa.

These thoughts ran through my head as I got my robes and other school supplies. I even found a small joke shop and bought some dung bombs for Fain and Gérard. Now they would have to write to me while I was at Hogwarts!

I had met two very different boys today. One who was shy, and another filled with arrogance. I had also seen with my own eyes how different Britain was from France. It was not only a whole different language but a new culture to learn. I had no idea what to expect from the other children or even the professors themselves. Would I be able to find a place for myself?

I decided to shake my negative thoughts away. I shouldn’t need to dwell too heavily on them. Besides, I had so many positive things to look forward to. One thing was for sure; I could already tell that this school year would certainly an interesting one.

* * *

Maman=mom

Papa=dad

Grand frère=big brother

Petite papillon=little butterfly

Grande sœur=big sister

Oui=yes

Merci=thank you

Monsieur=Mister (Mr.)

Que c'est chouette!=How lovely! (exclamation of delight)

Pardon?=sorry?

Merde!=a curse word in French

Excuse-moi=excuse me

Pardonnez-moi=pardon me

Encore=again

Ma Maman=my mom

La maison ancienne et royale d’ Archard=the Ancient and Royal House of Archard


	4. Journey to Hogwarts

Esme POV

This past month seemed to fly by. The twins were very happy with the new dung bombs I had bought them. They actually managed to use one of them against Alaric, but they accidentally locked themselves in the room with him and the dung bomb.

After a few minutes or so they were able to unlock the door to make a break for it. Alaric, however, had already had four years of magic training, and he easily caught the twins in their escape with the charm _Immobulus. _The twins were frozen in place, unable to move, but they were still aware of their surroundings. Alaric used them as his personal art easels. I especially enjoyed the ‘Love me please’ that was enchanted onto their foreheads in sparkly pink letters. I also never even got scolded for buying them the bombs in the first place!

I spent most of this last month either by myself or with Maude as per usual; I was really going to miss her. During meal times, Maman did her best to tell us about Hogwarts and answer any questions that we had. She only ever refused to answer one question – how we were going to be sorted into the Hogwarts Houses. Maman also told us more about her side of the family. She had lost contact with all except her brother Reginald, who was now the Head of the Macmillan family. He only had one child, our cousin Ernest. Apparently, he was going to be a first-year as well and Maman wanted us to try and get to know him while we were at school.

In a blink of an eye, it was the day we were set to leave. Since we had to leave so early in the morning to get to King’s Cross station before eleven o’clock, our younger siblings were not coming with us. Papa had some work to attend to, so he would be staying with them, but he did arrange for a Ministry car to drive us to the station.

Since the station was a part of Muggle London, we were not allowed to wear our robes. I wore a long-sleeve sweater dress instead. It was a soft sky blue with black trim, with my butterfly pins in their usual place in my hair.

This trip to King’s Cross station would be only the second time I’d left the mansion’s grounds since arriving in England, and would be my first time around Muggles. Papa had once said that even though they didn’t have magic, they were still people and shouldn’t be treated any differently, though we had to use a level of caution around them to maintain the Statute of Secrecy. I hadn’t really thought about Muggles all that much because it was just too hard to imagine a life without magic.

The six of us all fit perfectly into the one car. Alaric kept his reddish-brown eagle owl, _Amon_, in a cage that rested on his lap, and Blaire held her pet, a black half-Kneazle she named _Noir_, in her arms. Carlisle had gotten a small hazel-brown barn owl, now named _Ange,_ and Dustin had gotten a gray kitten named _Doux_. I put Flèche, my gray tawny owl, in the seat next to mine.

We arrived at the station at about half past ten. Alaric loaded my trunk and Flèche’s cage onto a trolley for me. Once we all had our things stacked and accounted for, Maman led the way into the station.

The station was very crowded; there were Muggles everywhere! A few times, someone would bump into me or my trolley, but they wouldn’t even apologize; they just kept walking. Hmph, Muggles seemed to lack basic manners.

As we entered the area between platforms nine and ten, I noticed a small boy next to a trolley standing by himself, looking slightly panicked. As we got closer, I realized that it was Harry. He must be unsure where to go.

I asked Maman to wait a second before I called out to him. “Harry!”

At hearing his name, Harry swung toward me. When we made eye contact, I could see the relief he was feeling in both his eyes and his smile. Harry pushed his trolley over to us. “Esme, I’m so glad to see you!”

Maman took this moment to step in with her usual bright smile and polite manner. “Hello, young man. Is this your first time at Hogwarts?”

Harry seemed to notice the rest of my family for the first time. He blushed and hesitantly answered, “Yes. The thing is…I don’t know how to…”

“How to get to the platform?” she said kindly. If it were possible, her eyes seemed to light up even more. She must be thinking he was adorable. Harry just nodded in response. “Not to worry dear. Come with us, we shall show you the way.”

With the addition of Harry to our group, we continued to follow Maman toward the barrier entrance to the platform. Soon, Maman signaled us to stop and turned to face us all. “Alright children, just like we talked about, oldest to youngest. Alaric, dear, please wait on the other side and get your siblings sorted before I get there.”

Alaric gave a brief nod to Maman before getting ready to run. With no hesitation, he took off toward the barrier. I looked sideways at Harry and saw that he was staring intently at my brother, not even blinking. I looked back toward Alaric to watch him vanish, just like Maman had described to us earlier in the week.

“Next,” Maman ordered. Blaire got ready before she lightly ran toward the brick wall. Once she vanished, Maman again called out “Next” and Fain took off. Gérard hurried after him and then he too, vanished.

Maman and I both turned toward Harry to see confusion plainly showing on his face. Maman just smiled gently at Harry as she spoke, “There is nothing to worry about, Harry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Do not stop moving, you will not crash into it. If you are nervous, you can take it at a run. Do not worry, you will be fine. Go ahead of Esme, she will be right behind you.”

“Er...OK.” Harry positioned his trolley like my siblings had before him. He started to walk towards the barrier, getting slightly jostled by the people around him. As Harry got closer to the wall, he picked up more speed until he disappeared beyond the barrier.

Finally, Maman turned to face me and said, “Alright my little one, it’s our turn.” Maman placed a hand on my back and urged me into a light jog. As we approached the barrier, I couldn’t help but to close my eyes. When I opened them, I almost couldn’t believe the sight that greeted me.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead read Hogwarts Express, 11 o’clock. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled way, hardly heard over the chatter and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The sight before me was breathtaking, even better in real life than what Maman had described. I heard Maman chuckle as she nudged me forward. “Alright my dear, the friend that you ‘forgot’ to mention is waiting for you. Hurry up now, he looks a bit lost.” I hurried over to where my siblings and Harry were waiting.

“Esme, you’ve been terribly rude, honestly I thought I taught you better. You haven’t made introductions,” Maman lightly scolded me.

“Sorry, Maman.” I moved over next to Harry. “This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is my mother, Diaspora Archard, and my older siblings, Alaric, Blaire, Carlisle, and Dustin,” I said as I gestured to each person.

Harry nodded to each of them, though his shyness kept him from making eye contact. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

Maman’s eyes lit up in her obvious happiness. “Oh, what a polite young man! No need to look so worried, we don’t bite.” She engulfed Harry into a hug. Poor thing looked confused and shocked, his eyes screaming at me to help him.

I could hear the others snickering, so I took pity on him. “Maman, please stop embarrassing him.”

She did let Harry out of the hug, but still held onto his thin shoulders. She frowned briefly before resuming her exuberance. “I apologize if I frightened you dear, but you were just too adorable that I could not resist.”

“Uh…well, it’s alright,” Harry stuttered out.

Maman burst into giggles, attracting the attention from those standing near our group. Blaire interrupted, “As entertaining as it is to watch you tease young Harry Maman, we should really find a place on the train now.”

“Very well, _ma chérie_. Alright does everyone have everything?” We all replied with various affirmations. She gave each of us a hug and a quick kiss on our cheeks; except Harry, she only hugged him, much to his embarrassment.

I hurried next to Harry, “Would you like to sit together?”

He looked over at me. “Wouldn’t you rather sit with your family?”

I looked over to Alaric, silently asking for permission. He scowled and opened his mouth, only to be smacked by Blaire before he could say anything. She said, “That’s alright with us. Alaric and I will get you two situated in a carriage while the twins search for one for us.”

I turned back to Harry smiling, and he sent me a small smile back as we reached the train at last. We all climbed on and separated into two groups to walk down the aisle in different directions. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the windows to talk to their families and some fighting over seats.

We pressed on down the aisle until Harry stopped in front of an empty carriage near the end of the train. He put his owl inside first, then with Alaric’s help got his trunk up onto the shelf. Alaric did the same for me after I set Flèche’s cage down next to Harry’s owl. Alaric tried to find some silly reason to stay, only to be dragged away by an exasperated Blaire. I waved goodbye, “See you later!”

I entered the carriage to find Harry already seated near the window, so I took the seat across from him. He had been gazing out the window but turned back to me once I was settled.

He asked almost hesitantly, “So…does your brother not like me?”

I couldn’t help but giggle, “Oh, _mon ami_, it’s not what you’re probably thinking. While I love my brother, Alaric can be an eccentric dolt at times. He thinks himself Blaire’s and mine protector from boys.” I waved my hand in front of my face. “He’s harmless.”

“Oh, alright.” He sighed softly, “It seems nice, having siblings like yours.”

I was about to reply when the train whistle sounded. I stood up on the seat to open the window and leaned out searching for Maman. Just as the train lurched slightly and began to move, I found her further up the platform. She was waving at the front of the train where I assumed my siblings were seated. Closely next to her was a tall dirty blonde-haired man. He resembled Maman closely, so I assumed him to be my Uncle Reginald.

As the train continued forward, I finally caught Maman’s eyes and waved goodbye to her. I saw her say something to Uncle Reginald and he looked right at me as the train sped away. I realized as I carefully leaned back in and closed the window, that not once did Uncle Reginald smile or wave. Neither to me or to wherever my cousin Ernest was. He seemed to be the complete opposite of Maman in disposition.

Houses began to flash past the window, faster and faster as the train picked up speed. We were finally on our way to Hogwarts, and I felt excitement begin to race through me. I looked across to Harry, who was still looking out the window, now with a small smile on his face.

The door to the carriage slid open and a young red-headed boy poked his head in. He flushed when we looked at him and hesitantly asked, “Anyone else sitting here?” while pointing to the seat next to Harry. “Everywhere else is full.”

Harry shook his head. “Go ahead, we’re the only ones here,” I said, gesturing at the seat across from me.

As boy pushed his trunk into the rack, I noticed how much taller than Harry or me he was, and he was also quite lanky. He sat down then glanced at Harry, then at me before quickly looking out the window, pretending he hadn’t looked. I noticed that he had a black mark on his nose. I was about to say something when the door slid open once again.

“Hey Ron.” A pair of identical red-haired boys stuck their heads in. “Listen, we’re going down the middle of the train. Lee Jordan’s got a tarantula down there.”

“Right,” mumbled Ron.

The twins seemed to finally notice us, “Oooh, who are the other ickle firsties?”

"What's that?" asked one of the twins suddenly, pointing at the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you?"

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?"

"What?" asked Harry, obviously lost in their mostly-unspoken conversation.

"Harry Potter," chorused the red-headed twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him, and I could see that Harry had begun to turn red. Trying to gain their attention, I addressed the twins. "Honestly, there's no need to stare at him like that. _Quels idiots_, it's like you two have never seen an eleven-year-old boy before or something."

"What a bold ickle firstie we have here, Gred," said the first twin.

"Right you are Forge, can't see her lasting long in the Sorting Ceremony," replied the other.

I wasn't sure if they were teasing me or insulting me. The mirrored smirks that both twins wore were deceiving. Despite my annoyance, I was also amused. They reminded me of Fain and Gérard. I guessed they weren’t like _monsieur _Malfoy, so I simply nodded my head in greeting. “Esme Archard.”

The twins grinned at me before addressing all of us at once. “Well it’s been fun.”

“See you later then.”

“Bye,” Harry and I replied with different levels of enthusiasm; Ron simply nodded in their direction. The twins slid the door shut behind them.

“I’m Ron by the way. Ron Weasley,” Ron said after a pause. An awkward silence fell, until Ron blurted out, “Are you really Harry Potter?” Harry nodded. “And have you really got, you know…” He pointed at Harry’s forehead.

Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron starred. “So that’s where You-Know-Who…?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered, letting his hair cover his forehead once more, “But I can’t remember it.”

“Nothing?” asked Ron eagerly. Seriously, he seemed to lack any form of tack. I was not warming up to him like I did to Harry; he seemed very annoying, and thanks to my younger siblings I really disliked annoying people. It seemed that Muggles were not the only ones who lacked basic manners.

“Well, I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else,” answered Harry. Wait, green light? Was that from a spell? But what sort of spell produced a green light? I guessed I could ask Blaire or even Alaric later; one of them would know.

“Wow,” said Ron breathlessly. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then must have realized what he was doing because he looked away quickly out the window again, pretending to be watching the trees flying by.

Well, this was slightly awkward…what could we talk about?

“Are you from a wizarding family like Esme is?” asked Harry. He must be curious about wizards if I was right about him not being from our world. If I recalled correctly, which I usually did, Weasley was on that list of old wizarding families.

“Er…yes.” Ron seemed confused by the question. “Pretty much everyone in my family is a wizard. Well…I think Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we never talk about him.”

“So, you and Esme must know loads of magic already,” said Harry. Knowing that whatever Ron was going to say might just confuse him more, I stepped in to explain.

“Not necessarily. It might be different in Ron’s family, but usually young witches and wizards aren’t supposed to use wands yet. We may know of spells and charms, but we don’t usually have any practice at actually casting them yet.”

Ron just stared at me. “You have a weird accent.”

I frowned at him and tartly replied, “Well from my end, you’re the one with the weird accent.” I was slightly offended that he called my voice weird. English people were so strange.

Harry looked quickly back and forth between me and Ron as silence briefly descended.

Breaking the slightly awkward silence, Ron turned to Harry. “I heard you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?” Though I wasn’t exactly warming up to Ron just yet, I must admit that was a good question to ask. I was curious about Muggles myself.

“Horrible.” As he said this, he seemed to catch himself. “Well, not all of them are bad. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though.” Wait, if Harry lived with them, what happened to his parents? “Wish I’d had three wizard brothers like you both.”

“Five,” said Ron suddenly. For some reason, he was looking gloomy at the thought. “I’m the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts, and you could say I’ve got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch for Gryffindor. Now Percy’s a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they’re really funny.”

I felt a little bad for Ron. I knew exactly how he might’ve been feeling; it was sometimes difficult having talented older siblings.

“Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, and Percy’s old rat.”

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was fast asleep and seemed to be snoring. At the sight of it, I shrieked a bit and moved as far as I could get from the ball of fur. I did not like rats.

Ron chuckled at my reaction. “No need to freak out or anything. His name’s Scabbers and he’s pretty useless; he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn’t aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead.”

Ron’s ears went pink. I guessed he thought he almost said too much about his family’s money situation. Though I understood living in a sibling’s shadow, I couldn’t relate to the rest. No one in my family had to share clothes or supplies. Between Papa’s work and the long-standing family fortune, we could afford new things for all of my siblings, with plenty to spare.

“I have a lot of siblings too, Ron.” His head snapped in my direction. “I have three older brothers, an older sister, then three younger brothers, and finally two younger sisters. All of my older siblings are transferring to Hogwarts with me this year. It’s the first year at the school for all of us, but the older ones will be transferring into the upper years. I’m the only real first-year in the family.”

“Why are they transferring?” asked Ron. Harry also seemed interested.

I hesitated from answering right away. I knew I shouldn’t tell the whole story, it was family business in the first place and not meant to be shared. So, I decided to share the partial truth. “My family originally lived in France. My older siblings had previously attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, the French wizarding school. My parents decided to move us to England for some reason or another and also decided they wanted all of us to attend Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons.”

“Probably because Hogwarts is the best school there is,” Ron injected.

I just smiled, not agreeing or disagreeing. Truthfully, I had nothing to compare; though perhaps I’d ask Blaire later on what she thought on the matter.

“Who are your siblings anyways?” asked Ron curiously.

I adjusted in my seat and tossed some of my hair over my shoulder. I was not used to having boys my age actually listen to what I was saying. “My eldest sibling is Alaric, followed by my older sister Blaire. They are fraternal twins and both will be fifth-years. Alaric has always been the leader of us all and has always been really good at spells and great at playing Quidditch. Blaire is the smartest; she has always loved books and learning. Next are my older brothers Carlisle and then Dustin. They are identical twins and they will be third-years. Carlisle is a sweetheart but is quite clumsy. Dustin has always been a natural gentleman. Both boys are quite the Quidditch fans, sometimes even fanatics, depending on who made it to the World Cup.”

Hearing about all of my older siblings seemed to cheer Ron up a bit but only for a moment. He squinted at me, then frowned and seemed to be slightly angry because he turned a bit red. I couldn’t really be sure, as I had just met him, but I was usually very good at reading people. There was something about me that seemed to bother him, though at the moment I was not sure what it was.

Harry joined our family share time. “You know, growing up I’ve only ever had my older cousin Dudley. I even had to wear all of his old clothes because I’d never had any money to buy new ones until a month ago.”

Ron perked up, shifting his attention from me to Harry. I, however, had the opposite reaction. Hearing Harry talk made me understand why he had acted the way he did at Diagon Alley. It wasn’t just that Harry was shy; he honestly was not used to anyone showing him that they cared. I was glad that I met him when I did, so now neither of us were going to school alone. As I pondered this, I realized that I got lost from the conversation.

“…and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-“

Ron interrupted him with a gasp. Harry, clearly confused, cut off mid-sentence. “What?”

“You said You-Know-Who’s name!” Ron exclaimed, sounding both shocked and impressed (and even a little bit scared). That must be what that dark wizard’s real name was. “I’d have thought you, of all people- “

Harry interrupted with a wave of his hand. “I’m not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name out loud. I just never knew you shouldn’t. See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn…I bet, I bet I’m the worst in the class.”

I quickly interjected, “No, you won’t be Harry. Everyone starts out not knowing anything in the beginning.”

Ron continued, sounding enthusiastic in his attempt to cheer up Harry, “She’s right there. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough. You’ll be fine, promise.”

While the three of us had been talking, the train had carried us out of London and into the countryside. Now we were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. We were quiet for a while, content to watch the fields and lanes flick by.

Around half past twelve there was a clattering noise outside the door in the aisle and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back our door and said, “Anything off the trolley, dears?” Harry leapt to his feet right away. I just stood up slowly, allowing him to go first. Ron’s ears went pink again and he muttered that he’d brought sandwiches. I followed Harry to the opened door.

Growing up, I had never had most of these sweets. We all mostly just had the sweets that the house elves made for us. Recently my youngest siblings had discovered Chocolate Frogs and their collector cards. I didn’t quite see the appeal, but it was fun to watch them discover the different cards whenever they opened a new one.

The woman had a lot of different kinds of sweets. I saw Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands, Sugar Quills, and a number of other types of sugary delights.

Harry seemed to grab some of everything while I settled for some Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands, and Sugar Quills. We both paid the woman for our bundles and went back into our compartment. Harry tipped his bundle onto the spot in between himself and Ron while Ron just stared.

“Hungry, are you?” he asked Harry.

“Starving,” replied Harry, taking a large bite out of a Pumpkin Pasty. I decided to try one of my Liquorice Wands first.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches covered in wax paper. He pulled one of them apart and said, “She always forgets I don’t like corned beef.”

“Swap you for one of these,” Harry said, holding up a pasty. “Go on.”

“You don’t want this, it’s all dry,” mumbled Ron. “She hasn’t got much time,” he added quickly, “you know, with five of us.” Ron’s family must not have any house elves if Ron’s mother was cooking for them. Unless she just enjoyed it too much to allow a house elf to do it.

“Go on, have a pasty,” urged Harry. Ron’s reluctance melted away. Soon, he and Harry were eating their way through all of Harry’s pasties and cakes. Ron’s sandwiches lay forgotten on the seat next to me. “What are these?” Harry asked, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. “They’re not really~ frogs, are they?”

“No,” answered Ron, “but see what the card is, I’m missing Agrippa. He’s one of the last ones I still need.”

“If you’re only missing a few, then you must be very close to having the full set,” I commented. Ron then had a proud smile on his face.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Harry, confused.

“Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know. Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect famous Witches and Wizards. I’ve got about five hundred, but I haven’t got Agrippa or Ptolemy.”

“My youngest siblings Henrik and Isabelle have just started collecting cards. They only have a few of the popular ones,” I added as Harry unwrapped his first Chocolate Frog.

“So, this is Dumbledore!” said Harry, examining the iridescent card.

“Don’t tell me you’d never heard of Dumbledore!” exclaimed Ron. “Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa. Thanks.”

Ron unwrapped his Chocolate Frog while Harry read the back of his card. He turned the card back over and seemed shocked at the empty frame. “He’s gone!”

“Well, you can’t expect him to hang around all day,” said Ron, finally getting his wrapper open.

“He’ll come back eventually, Harry,” I reassured Harry, though I was confused as to why I had to in the first place.

“No, I’ve got Morgana again and I’ve got about six of her…do you want it? You can start collecting,” Ron said to Harry. His eyes then strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.

I smirked behind my hand at Ron’s longing look. “Help yourself,” said Harry. “But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos.”

“Do they? _Mon dieu_, that’s strange!” I exclaimed.

“What, they don’t move at all?” Ron sounded amazed. “Weird~!”

Harry continued to stare at his Dumbledore card, while Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards. Soon, Harry had quite the number of cards of his own, since Ron was unable to find a Agrippa card. Harry moved on to open a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans.

“You want to be careful with those, Harry,” Ron warned. “When they say every flavour, they mean~ every flavour. You know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey flavoured one once.”

“Ew, that’s disgusting,” I commented.

“Yeah, that's the fun part,” Ron said while he picked up a green bean. He looked at it carefully and then bit slowly into a corner. “Bleaaargh, see? Sprouts.”

The boys had a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. They kept offering me some, but I refused to take the risk - it was not worth it in my mind. Harry was either brave or stupid to nibble the end off a funny grey one that Ron wouldn’t even touch. It turned out to be pepper. Fortune favored the foolish in this case.

The countryside flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields were gone, replaced by woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

A little while later, there was a knock on the door of our compartment and a round-faced boy came in, looking sad and close to tears. “Sorry,” he said, “but have you seen a toad at all?” When we all shook our heads, he wailed, “I’ve lost him! He keeps getting away from me!”

“He’ll turn up,” said Harry reassuringly.

“Yes,” said the boy miserably. “Well, if you see him…” He left after that.

“Don’t know why he’s so bothered,” said Ron. “If I’d brought a toad I’d lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can’t talk.” I grimaced as I glanced at the rat that was still snoozing on Ron’s lap. “He might have died, and you wouldn’t know the difference,” Ron said in disgust. “I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn’t work. I’ll show you, look…”

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. I might’ve known next to nothing about wands, but it couldn’t be a good thing that the core was starting to show.

“Unicorn hair’s nearly poking out. Anyway- “

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open once more. The sad boy from before was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost one,” she declared in a bossy voice. She had bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth. Her voice reminded me of the dance instructor we had in France, Madame Rosé; she was a mean woman who always talked down to us as if we were idiots.

“We’ve already told him we haven’t seen it,” said Ron, but the girl wasn’t listening to him. She was looking at Ron’s wand in his hand.

“Oh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it then,” she demanded. She then sat down next to me, across from Ron, leaving the toad-less boy alone in the doorway. This girl was really starting to annoy me.

Ron looked taken aback. “Er…all right” he said. Ron cleared his throat. “Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!” He waved his wand repeatedly, but nothing happened. Scabbers remained both grey and fast asleep. There was no possibility at all it was a real spell. I bet his brothers had tricked him; seemed like something they would do. I couldn’t bring myself to really feel bad for Ron though – he was a pureblood who had been surrounded by magic all his life, he should know what spells sound like.

“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl, her eyebrows raised. “Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice, and they’re all worked for me. Nobody in my family’s magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard - I’ve learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, and who are you?”

She said this all very fast, only pausing to breathe at the end. This girl was certainly something else - not even Blaire, who loved books and learning, had ever memorized all of her textbooks before starting a lesson (sometimes she hardly even skimmed them beforehand). I glanced across to Harry and Ron, who both appeared stunned. I guessed they were still trying to process what Hermione had just said, so I was the first to answer her. “My name is Esme Archard.”

“Oh! I’ve read all about your family in Notable Magical Names of Our Time. The Archard family is mentioned as one of the few remaining families with ancestral ties back to Merlin himself. Did you know that?”

“Yes,” I answered stiffly. I found it creepy she took the time to memorize things about my family.

“And, you both are?” she asked the boys.

“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron muttered.

“Harry Potter.”

Hermione’s attention snapped to Harry. “Are you really? I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you’re in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.”

Looking a bit dazed, Harry asked, “Am I?”

“Goodness, didn’t you know, I’d have found out everything I could if it was me,” gushed Hermione. Did she really just imply that Harry was ignorant and possibly stupid? Not even pausing, she continued, “Do any of you know what House you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around and I hope I’m in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad…Anyway, we’d better go and look for Neville’s toad. All of you had better change, you know, I expect we’ll be there soon.”

With this she left, taking a slightly flushed Neville with her. I was glad that she was gone, because if she had stayed much longer, I would have expressed my annoyance out loud.

“Whatever House I’m in, I hope she’s not in it,” said Ron as he threw his wand back into his trunk. “Stupid spell! George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud.”

I bet he made it up just for you, Ronald Weasley, I thought to myself.

“What House are your brothers in?” asked Harry.

“Gryffindor,” answered Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling over him again. “Mum and Dad were in it too. I don’t know what they’ll say if I’m not. I don’t suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin.”

“What’s wrong with Slytherin?” I asked.

“Wasn’t that the house Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in?” asked Harry. We both turned to Ron for answers.

“Yeah,” said Ron. “That’s what’s wrong with Slytherin, they’re a bunch of snakes. Right bunch of cheaters in Quidditch they always are.” His answer made me internally frown. It didn’t make sense to me that an entire House was considered as dark as a single member. I wondered how many others shared this kind of thinking.

“You know, I think the ends of Scabbers’ whiskers are a bit lighter,” Harry said suddenly, as though trying to lighten the mood. Ron gave him a small smile.

I realized that Harry was trying to take Ron’s mind off the Hogwarts Houses, so I jumped in as well. “So, what do your eldest brothers do now after leaving Hogwarts?”

“Charlie’s in Romania studying dragons and Bill’s in Africa doing something for Gringotts,” said Ron. I was impressed by both his brothers. Dragons were very dangerous creatures and his other brother must be quite skilled to work with both goblins and gold. “Did either of you hear about Gringotts? It’s been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don’t suppose you get that being new here or with the Muggles. Someone tried to rob a high security vault.”

I gasped in surprise. There really was someone idiotic enough to try to steal from goblins.

“Really? What happened to them?” asked Harry.

Ron seemed to bask slightly in the attention. “Nothing, that’s why it’s such big news. They haven’t been caught. My dad says it must’ve been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don’t think they took anything, that’s what’s odd. Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who’s behind it.”

A small shiver went down my spine. I had thought the dark wizarding activities were mostly gone in Britain, yet things like this happened. Was my family truly as safe as Dumbledore had promised Papa?

Suddenly, Ron asked, “What’s your Quidditch teams?”

“I don’t really follow Quidditch, so I can’t claim a favorite,” I replied.

“Er…I don’t know any,” confessed Harry.

“What!” Ron looked dumbfounded, as though Harry had just told him that he didn’t know how to tie his own shoes. “Oh, you wait, it’s the best game in the world!” Ron then went on and on, explaining the basic rules of Quidditch. I soon got bored listening, so I just tuned out of the conversation to look out the window at the passing scenery. Suddenly, the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn’t Neville, Hermione Granger, or either of the Weasley twins this time.

Three boys entered, and I instantly recognized the one in the middle as the arrogant boy from Diagon Alley. Draco Malfoy if I recalled correctly. “Is it true?” he asked. “They’re saying all down the train that Harry Potter’s in this compartment. So it’s you, is it?” Draco had his eyes fixed on Harry and didn’t seem to really notice Ron or me. It was as if all the manners that Draco had shown in Diagon Alley with _monsieur_ Malfoy present were gone.

“Yes,” answered Harry, seeming both confused and apprehensive.

“Oh, this is Crabbe, and Goyle,” Draco said carelessly, gesturing to the burly boys on either side of him. I looked behind Draco to the other boys. Both were large and looked extremely mean. “And my name’s Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” 

Ron gave a slight cough, which I suspected was him hiding a snigger. Draco looked at him. “Think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all about the Weasleys; red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.” Draco was being much more of a brat than he had been in Diagon Alley.

Draco’s eyes widened slightly when he finally noticed me sitting across from Harry. He sent what I guess was supposed to be confident smirk at me, but to me it just appeared arrogant and self-conscious. “I should’ve guessed you’d be with Potter, Esme. Though I’m surprised that you of all people are sitting with a Weasley.” I kept my face neutral, but internally I was growing exasperated. If this was Draco’s true personality, then we definitely would never be friends.

“_Bonjour_ to you too, Draco. I see that your manners have been left back at the platform.” My tone was light but sharp, hinting at my exasperation with his attitude without saying it outright.

Draco’s pale cheeks became tinged with a light pink color as he turned back toward Harry. “You’ll find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”

He held out his hand to shake Harry’s, but Harry didn’t take it. “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,” he replied coolly. Draco turned even pinker, now bordering on a shade of embarrassed red.

“I’d be careful if I were you, Potter,” Draco said slowly. “Unless you’re a bit politer, you’ll go the same way as your parents. They didn’t know what was good for them either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it’ll rub off on you.”

Both Harry and Ron stood up, sending sweet wrappers floating to the floor. Wanting to stay out of sight, I stayed seated behind them. I couldn’t believe that Draco actually went that far with Harry. He even insulted Hagrid, who, in my opinion, was a wonderful and kind man. I couldn’t see either of Harry’s or Ron’s faces, but Harry was shaking slightly, and Ron’s ears had turned as red as his hair.

“Say that again,” Harry challenged, his hands starting to clench into fists.

Draco sneered and crossed his arms. “Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you?”

“Unless you get out now,” Harry replied more heatedly. I was now worried. If it came to a fight, I would be useless, though I doubted that Malfoy would attack me or allow his goons to. That meant that Harry and Ron were basically outnumbered, with two of their opponents being much bigger than they were.

“But we don’t feel like leaving, do we boys? Wouldn’t want to leave Esme here with you two and we’ve eaten all our food. You still seem to have some.” Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron. Ron leapt forward, but before he’d so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle’s knuckle. Crabbe and Draco backed away as Goyle swung the light grey rat back and forth, while yelling in pain. When Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once, with Draco sparing me only a quick glance. Perhaps they thought more rats were lurking around ready to attack, or perhaps it was the footsteps they’d heard, because a second later Hermione Granger had come in.

“What **has** been going on?” She looked around the carriage, taking in the fallen sweets and the smudge mark left on the window. Ron had moved in front of me to pick up Scabbers by his tail.

“I think he’s been knocked out,” Ron said to us. I was slightly worried about the thing. I still would never touch him, but he did make Draco and his goons leave. “No…I don’t believe it. He’s gone back to sleep.” Ron turned toward Harry and me. “You’ve both met Malfoy before?”

Harry explained about his meeting with Draco in Diagon Alley while getting fitted for his robes. I then briefly explained how I (quite literally) ran into Draco and his father after getting my books. While Harry had calmed down from the altercation, Ron was still visibly upset. What was going on in that boy’s head?

“I’ve heard of his family,” Ron said darkly. “They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched. My dad doesn’t believe it. He says Malfoy’s father didn’t need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.”

If that was true, then that explained why I felt uneasy around _monsieur_ Malfoy. Ron turned to Hermione. “Can we help you with something?” he asked, clearly waiting for her to leave.

“You’d all better hurry up and put robes on, I’ve just been up front to ask the driver and he says we’re nearly there. You haven’t been fighting, have you? You’ll be in trouble before we even get there!” This girl was really trying my patience. She had no understanding of the situation, yet still she insisted on pushing herself in.

“Scabbers has been fighting, not us,” said Ron, scowling at her. “Would you mind leaving while we change?”

“All right, I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,” Hermione said in a sniffy voice. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?” I knew I acted more reserved than most children my age, but she was taking things a bit too far.

“We will change into our robes just as soon as you leave,” I said sharply. Ron’s irritated manner was starting to rub off on me. She merely sniffed primly and left, while Ron glared after her. He continued to be in a foul mood, even after she left, which was not helping me calm down.

I refused to sit in an enclosed space with Ron’s brooding any longer. After the three of us got out trunks down, I gathered my robes from my trunk, I turned toward the boys. Harry and Ron had already removed their jackets and pulled on their long black robes over their jeans and T-shirts. Ron’s were a bit short for him, and I could see his shoes underneath them.

“I will be back in a moment, I need to go to the washroom for this,” I told them. Harry gave me a grin and nod, while Ron ignored me altogether as he continued to brood while staring out the window. I internally huffed as I left the compartment.

I walked up the aisle toward where I thought the washroom would be. Once there, I changed into my robes and took a moment to collect myself. Suddenly, a voice echoed through the train. “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.”

I exited the washroom and headed back to the compartment to leave my previous clothes in my trunk. Harry and Ron were already gone when I arrived, so closed up my trunk and left the compartment joining the crowd of people that began to form in the train’s aisle. The train slowed down and finally came to a stop. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. The warmth from the sun was gone, leaving behind the cold night air.

I was near the front of the group of people coming off the train, so I had a clear view of Hagrid approaching us with a lamp hanging over our heads. “Firs’ years over here! Archards come her’ also!” I moved to stand by Hagrid and was about to greet him when he shouted again. “Firs’ years and Archards! Firs’ years and Archards over here! All right there, Harry?”

I looked toward where Hagrid was looking, but I couldn’t see Harry through the crowd. I began to move when my right hand was grabbed. I looked up to see Alaric holding my hand in his own. “We should stay together.”

I sighed and answered, “Yes, you’re right.” Blaire, who was nearby, then grabbed my other hand, placing me firmly in between my two eldest siblings, with Carlisle and Dustin right behind us.

“C’mon, follow me,” Hagrid announced, starting to move us off the platform. “Any more firs’ years or Archards? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years and Archards follow me!”

Stumbling along in-between Alaric and Blaire, their grips on my hands were the only thing keeping me from slipping. We followed Hagrid down a very steep path. It was so dark on either side of us, there had to be trees all around us that blocked out the moonlight. Nobody spoke much; the only sound was the noise of all of us stumbling down the path.

“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder. “Jus’ round this bend here.”

As we came around the bend, many people let out a loud “Oooooh!” The path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, stood a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. I followed Alaric and Blaire to a boat. When we climbed in, I noticed that between the three of us there was not enough room for a fourth person – Hagrid hadn’t accounted for my siblings’ extra height. I looked around and saw that my other siblings had claimed a boat of their own with two other first years I didn’t recognize.

“Everyone in?” Hagrid shouted, who had a boat to himself. “Right then. Forward!” The fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the smooth, glass-like lake. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over us as we sailed toward the cliff on which it was built.

“Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. I bent forward a bit and the boat carried us through a curtain of ivy hiding a wide opening in the side of the cliff.

We were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking us right underneath the castle, until we reached some sort of underground harbor. The little boats were pushed up on the bank and we all climbed out onto the rocks and pebbles. Once again, Alaric and Blaire situated me between themselves, though they did not hold my hands this time.

“Oy, you there! Is this your toad?” said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

“Trevor!” cried Neville happily, holding out his hands. I was glad he was able to find his toad; hopefully he would not lose it again (though somehow, I sensed he would). We were all ushered up a passageway in the rock, following Hagrid’s lamp. We came out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded in front of a large oak door. “Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?” Hagrid raised one of his large fists and knocked three times on the castle door, which swung open at once. The bright light of the hall flooded over us, and I could feel my excitement rise – we had finally arrived at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

Maman = mom

Papa = dad

Amon = (Magi reference)

Noir = black

Ange = angel

Doux = to be soft

Flèche = dart

Ma chérie = my dear

Mon ami = my friend

Quels idiots = what idiots

Monsieur = Mr. or Mister

Mon dieu = my god

Bonjour = hello


	5. The Sorting Hat

Esme POV

The door suddenly swung open, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes standing alone. She had a very stern face, and it seemed that she was not someone to cross.

“The firs’ years for yeh, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.

“Thank you, Hagrid,” she replied. “I will take them from here.”

She pulled the door wide, so all of us could enter. The Entrance Hall was incredibly large, bigger than the ballroom back in our new manor, Heaven’s Gardens. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones I had seen at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high for me to measure in my head, and a magnificent marble staircase facing us led to the upper floors.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, with Alaric and Blaire keeping me between them. I could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right; that must be where the rest of the students are. Instead of Professor McGonagall leading us to the doorway, however, she ushered us all into a small chamber off the hall. We all crowded in and were forced to stand a lot closer than I appreciated. People were peering around, and I was starting to feel nervous about what was about to happen.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House Dormitory, and spend free time in your House Common Room.”

These Houses were a lot more separated than I originally thought. Did this mean I wouldn’t be able to see my siblings if I was sorted differently from the rest of them?

“The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will result in the loss of points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.”

I pitied the House that would get Fain and Gérard in a few years; they most definitely would be troublemakers.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” Her eyes swept over us, and they seemed to linger for a moment on a few people I couldn’t see.

Her eyes came to rest on my siblings and me. “You must be the Archard children.” Since it was more of a statement than a question, we all just nodded. “Though your circumstances are unique ones, you will be taking part in the Sorting Ceremony with the first-years.” Professor McGonagall then shifted to address everyone again. “I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.” She then turned and left the chamber.

I heard Harry behind me ask, “How exactly do they sort us into Houses?” I turned around to see that Harry was standing next to Ron with Neville nearby. I was curious if Ron knew the answer.

“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking,” Ron answered.

If I remembered correctly, Fred was one of the twins; the same twins that seemed to frequently play tricks on Ron. I highly doubted anything that Fred told him was the truth. Even when they had said I wouldn’t last long, I reckon they were just trying to frighten me. Unfortunately, it was apparent that I was one of the few who came to this conclusion. Harry seemed extremely anxious as he kept looking around him at the other first-years.

Everyone else looked terrified and weren’t really saying anything, except for Hermione. She was whispering (not so quietly) in her usual fast pace about the spells she’d learnt and wondering which one she’d need. I gave in and rolled my eyes at her. We were first-years for Merlin’s sake, many of us had never attempted magic before; it made no sense that the professors would require us to perform magic right away, and in front of the whole school nevertheless.

Suddenly, I noticed several ghosts were streaming in through the back wall. I wasn’t the only one who noticed, as several people in the back suddenly screamed. Soon, everyone was facing the ghosts; there were about twenty or so of them, each pearly white and slightly transparent. They glided across the room talking to each other and hardly taking notice of us; only a few glanced at those who screamed. Unlike some of the rest of us, those who screamed must never had seen ghosts before.

The ghosts seemed to be arguing. What looked like a small fat monk was saying, “Forgive and forget I say. We ought to give him a second chance- “

“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?” another ghost interrupted. “He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost- “

“I say, what are you all doing here?” asked a ghost wearing a ruffled collar and tights. Nobody answered – either from being caught off guard, or because they were still in shock from seeing ghosts for the first time.

“New students!” said the friar, smiling at us. “About to be sorted, I suppose?” I could see a few heads nodding slowly. “Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know.” Maman was in the same House as this ghost, which means his name literally was the Fat Friar; I remember her telling us about him. She actually played down the Fat Friar’s cheerfulness. He was quite amusing!

“Move along now,” said the sharp voice belonging to Professor McGonagall. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. “Now form a line two by two and follow me.”

I ended up being pushed back from between Alaric and Blaire to right behind them next to Neville, who was looking as if he was about to cry. Giving what comfort I could, I placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and said with a soft smile, “It’s alright, the others and I are right here with you. There’s nothing to fear.” It seemed to help him a bit because his eyes were no longer teary as he smiled back in thanks, though he still looked nervous. But if I was being honest, I was nervous too. I was not used to, nor did I like to be the center of attention and standing in front of the whole school definitely qualified.

We began moving and walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. I couldn’t help but look around in awe at everything I saw. The Hall was lit by thousands of candles which were floating mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table, the High Table, where the professors and Headmaster were sitting.

Professor McGonagall led us up there, so that we came to a halt in a bunch facing the other students, with the professors and staff behind us. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. I heard Hermione whispering to someone beside me, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”

I looked up to see a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was difficult to see the actual ceiling; the image looked as if there was no roof and the Great Hall was simply opened to the sky. My attention was brought back as Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of us. On top of the stool she placed a black, pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. Paddy would have thrown it out long ago.

Suddenly, I saw the hat twitch. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat began to sing:

**“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,**

**But don’t judge on what you see, **

**I’ll eat myself if you can find**

**A smarter hat than me.**

**You can keep your bowlers black, **

**Your top hats sleek and tall, **

**For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**

**And I can cap them all.**

**There’s nothing hidden in your head**

**The Sorting Hat can’t see,**

**So try me on and I will tell you**

**Where you ought to be.**

**You might belong in Gryffindor, **

**Where dwell the brave at heart,**

**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**

**Set Gryffindors apart;**

**You might belong in Hufflepuff, **

**Where they are just and loyal, **

**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**

**And unafraid of toil;**

**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**

**If you’ve a ready mind,**

**Where those of wit and learning,**

**Will always find their kind;**

**Or perhaps in Slytherin**

**You’ll make your real friends,**

**Those cunning folk use any means**

**To achieve their ends.**

**So put me on! Don’t be afraid!**

**And don’t get in a flap!**

**You’re in safe hands (though I have none)**

**For I’m a Thinking Cap!”**

The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. I, personally, was shocked. Yes, I’d seen a lot of magic done before; but nothing had prepared me for a singing hat! The hat bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Were we really supposed to wear it?

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. “When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!” A pink faced girl with blonde twin tails stumbled out of the bunch, sat down, and put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes.

There was a moment’s pause. “**Hufflepuff!**” shouted the hat. The table on the far left cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. I noticed the ghost from earlier, the Fat Friar, waving merrily at her. Would I be sorted there, into Maman’s House?

“Archard, Alaric!” Alaric calmly walked up to the stool and sat down as best as he could (the stool was a little small for him). He put on the hat, which sat perfectly on top of his head.

“**Gryffindor!**” shouted the hat as soon as it hit his head. The table on the right exploded with cheers as he went to sit with them. I could see Ron’s twin brothers, Fred and George, were among the most excited, clapping Alaric on the back as he sat down.

“Archard, Blaire!” Blaire moved toward to the stool, and though she appeared calm, I could see small signs of her nerves. She sat down on the stool, which was also a little small for her, and put the hat on her head.

After about a minute or so the hat shouted, “**Gryffindor!**” I could see the relief flooding her eyes as she got up and went toward Alaric at the cheering Gryffindor table. I had thought she would be in Ravenclaw, but I guess it was not meant to be.

“Archard, Carlisle!” Carlisle quickly made his way to the stool; he tripped a bit but caught himself so he only stumbled for a moment, causing a few to chuckle. I could also hear a few whispers starting to build. ‘Another Archard? Do you think he’ll be in Gryffindor too?’

After Carlisle sat down, there was a moment of silence before the hat shouted, “**Hufflepuff!**” Carlisle flashed his brightest smile yet as he moved toward the clapping table of yellow and black. I grinned at him as he passed me; he got sorted into Maman’s House, and I just knew she would be pleased that at least one of her children was sorted into her beloved House.

“Archard, Dustin!” Dustin calmly made his way to the stool, walking with the grace of a gentleman. After sitting down and putting on the hat, it shouted almost immediately, “**Hufflepuff!**” The Hufflepuff table clapped excitedly again, with Carlisle and Dustin smiling brightly at each other. With Dustin done that meant…

“Archard, Esme!” Anxiety exploded inside of me, but I firmly pushed it down. With a small smile on my face, I gracefully made my way toward the stool, passing Harry on the way, who sent me a brief smile. I sat down onto the stool and placed the hat on my small head – it immediately covered my eyes.

“Hmm,” said a small voice in my ear. “Difficult, very difficult. Just as loyal as your brothers. Plenty of determination there too. There’s talent, yes, but it’s your mind that’s truly interesting. Intelligence and cunning. A dangerous combination…So where shall I put you?” I had no real preference, I just wanted to be in the House that fit me the best. “Yes…better be **Slytherin!**”

The table on the far right was clapping excitedly for me as I made my way down to an empty seat. I was greeted by an older girl who directed me to an open seat next to her. I turned back to front just as Professor McGonagall called out, “Bones, Susan!”

“**Hufflepuff!**” Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

“Boot, Terry!”

“**Ravenclaw!”** shouted the hat, making Terry the first Ravenclaw to be sorted. The table to the left clapped this time, and several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

“Brocklehurst, Mandy!” went to Ravenclaw too, but “Brown, Lavender!” went to Gryffindor. From my spot facing the Gryffindor table, I could see Fred and George catcalling – those two were funny when their target wasn’t you.

“Bulstrode, Millicent!” then became a Slytherin. She ended up sitting across from me. She was also greeted by the older girl sitting to my right, however, unlike me, she barely spared a glance at her or me for that matter. She turned and focus on the other first-years that had yet to me sorted.

“Finnigan, Seamus!” sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat called out for Gryffindor.

“Granger, Hermione!” She almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

“**Gryffindor!**” shouted the Hat after a couple minutes. I was expecting Hermione to be sorted into Ravenclaw, but I guess she didn’t have the wisdom to go with her know-it-all personality.

After Hermione, a “Greengrass, Daphne!” was called. She was quickly sorted into Slytherin and chose to sit next Millicent. Though she did greet me as she sat down instead of ignoring me as Millicent had done.

Eventually, Neville Longbottom was called; he tripped over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville, even longer than it had for Hermione. When it finally shouted, “**Gryffindor!**” Neville ran off still wearing it and had to jog back amongst the laughter of the other students to give it to the next person - “MacDougal, Morag!”, who was sent to Ravenclaw. Then “Macmillan, Ernest!”, my cousin, was called. The hat sat on his head for a minute or so before announcing, “**Hufflepuff!**”

Draco swaggered forward to the stool when his name was called. The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted, “**Slytherin!**” Looking quite pleased with himself, Draco strutted over to the table, moving the boy sitting next to me over so he could sit there. I gave Draco a polite smile and nod before facing the front again. There weren’t many people left now.

“Mason” … “Moon” …” Nott” …” Parkinson” …then a pair of identical twin girls, “Patil” and “Patil” (although unlike my siblings the twin girls were sorted into separate Houses). Then “Perks, Sally-Ann” and then at last...

“Potter, Harry!” As Harry stepped forward, I heard whispers suddenly break out. ‘Potter, did she say? The Harry Potter?’ Harry sat down, and the hat was set on his head, dropping down and covering his eyes. Everyone in the Hall was craning, trying to get a good look at him. A whole minute of absolute silence went, with everyone, including me, waiting in anticipation.

“**Gryffindor!**”

The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers and clapping. It was the loudest cheer yet! A tall red-haired boy got up and shook Harry’s hand vigorously, while Fred and George yelled, “We got Potter! We got Potter!” Harry looked very happy with his sorting; for which I was glad.

Now there were only a handful of people left. “Thomas, Dean!” and “Turpin, Lisa!” were sorted, and then it was Ron’s turn. He looked slightly green by now as he sat on the stool. A second after putting on the Hat it shouted, “**Gryffindor!**” – it looked like Ron was upholding the Weasley family tradition after all. He sat down next to Harry, then “Zabini, Blaise” became a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore then got up to his feet. He was beaming at all of us, his arms opened wide as if nothing could please him more than to see us all here. “Welcome!” he called. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” He sat back down and everybody clapped and cheered.

The dishes on the table were suddenly filled with mounds of food, and people began to serve themselves. Pansy Parkinson, who was sitting across and diagonally from me, muttered, “Mother and Father were right, Dumbledore is mad.” I wanted to say something in Dumbledore’s defense; after all, he had helped my family, and Papa always spoke highly of Dumbledore. He may seem odd, but he was one of the best wizards that currently lived.

Before I could say anything in Dumbledore’s defense, Draco spoke. “Barmy old fool, Father says he is, and I agree.” I was surprised when everyone around us who heard Draco nodded and voiced their agreement.

A sinking feeling took root in my chest. It was apparent that I would be playing the political games that Papa was forced to at the Ministry here in my own House. I did recognize many, if not all, the last names of my House as those who Papa warned me to be careful around. I would have to watch what I said for now before I was able to get a sense of everyone’s personalities and opinions. I had a feeling that my opinions were among the minority in what appeared to be a mostly pure-blood House. It was never wise to go against the majority alone, for loss was guaranteed every time. Hopefully, I would be able to find a like-minded person here.

I turned my focus to the food on the table, no longer wanting to listen or converse with the others. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon, and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, more potatoes than I could ever imagine (seriously, did the English have a strange obsession with potatoes?), chips, peas, carrots, gravy, drinks, and some sort of pudding thing I didn’t recognize.

Suddenly, a ghost took a seat on the other side of Draco, who now was looking very uncomfortable. Inwardly, I was a little bit pleased at Draco’s discomfort after his comment about Dumbledore. I looked over Draco, so I could observe the ghost. He looked different from the other ghosts – he had black staring eyes, gaunt face, robes stained with silver blood, and he had yet to say a single word.

The older girl on my right side noticed me observing the ghost. “That’s the Bloody Baron, our House Ghost,” she said seriously, nodding slightly in his direction and trying to avoid his attention. “Just do your best to ignore him and don’t walk through him or try to talk with him, as neither experience is very pleasant. I’m Gemma Farley by the way, one of the House Prefects.”

“I’m Esme Archard. Thank you for your advice.” I sent her a polite smile.

“That accent…you’re not from England, are you?” she asked in the same serious tone, but with a hint of curiosity this time.

“My family is originally from France, but recently moved to England.” Anticipating her next comment, I said, “That’s why my older siblings were sorted with me and the other first-years. Alaric and Blaire are actually fifth-years and Carlisle and Dustin are third-years.”

“Your siblings are both twins? That’s a lot of siblings to have, I wonder how your parents…manage all of you.”

I easily understood the underlying jib at whether or not my family had money. I was about to reply with my own snide comment when once again, before I could speak, Draco beat me to it.

“The Ancient and Royal House of Archard is famous for producing twins and with such a vast fortune has kept it among the most elite of the Pureblood families. Which I can’t really say about the Farley name,” Draco replied with a sneer.

Gemma’s face burned an unattractive red color before she turned away to focus on her food and the people on the other end of the table. I turned to Draco and said softly, “While unnecessary, thank you for your assistance.”

I thought I saw Draco’s cheeks turn a bit pink, but it was so faint I couldn’t be sure. Soon enough it was gone, and he returned to his usual arrogant self. “Well she had no right to try and slight you when she stands beneath us.”

Suddenly, a commotion arose over at the Gryffindor table. I looked over and almost choked on my food. The ghost in the ruffle and tights had seized his left ear and pulled his head until it was nearly separated from his body, appearing as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but did not do it properly. That must have hurt.

I noticed that Harry was looking over at the Slytherin table seeming happy. I managed to catch his eyes and send him a bright smile. He started to return it when Ron said something to him. Harry lost his small smile and glanced away back to Ron saying something to him. Ron stared at me longer, his face red from what I assumed was anger, before he turned away too.

What in Merlin’s name was that all about? Surely, they weren’t so petty as to think…but it was the only explanation that I could think of. The Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry was much more serious than I had originally thought. I was not so upset about Ron, as I already found him to be a _imbécile_ on the train, but Harry’s small rejection really hurt. He was…had been my first friend.

The remains of dinner soon faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling and as clean as before. A moment later, the deserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor I could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, truffles, and so much more. I helped myself to some truffles and an éclair.

Draco spoke up once more as he reached around me for a tart. “Don’t pay mind to Weasley. The Weasleys are nothing more than country bumpkins, too poor to afford any sort of manners.” In a louder voice so the others around us could hear he continued, “The Weasleys are so poor that they must share everything, including a brain.” Everyone laughed along with Draco, I found myself also laughing. It might have been petty, but Draco’s comments about Ron’s – no, Weasley’s – family made me feel better. But soon a pang of guilt shot through me. Fred and George were Weasley’s brothers, what Draco said applied to them too…so when I laughed, I was laughing at them, too.

I looked back over at the Gryffindor table. Everyone seemed to be getting along really well. I was glancing over Neville, when he looked over and our eyes met. I was worried that Neville, too, would reject me, but I managed to send Neville a tentative smile. To my surprise and delight, he held my gaze and sent me a shy smile back. Oh, Neville, you sweet boy, I thought. Gaining confidence, my smile brightened, and Neville flushed bright red.

My eyesight suddenly blurred and fuzzed, and all I could see was the image of a misty black snake that radiated darkness and danger. A sharp pain shot through my head, the snake pulsating with the ache. I finally managed to blink, and my eyesight slowly returned to normal. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come but left behind a sense of foreboding. My gaze was then drawn to the High Table where the professors sat, specifically to two teachers at the end. One was a man in an absurd purple turban, and the other was a black-haired, pale man.

As if feeling my gaze, the black-haired professor, facing my way, looked directly at me. At first his gaze was sharp, a sneer on his face, but once he met my gaze, his eyes widened slightly. He lost his sneer for a more blank face, but his eyes seemed to soften before he looked away, returning to his discussion with the turban-wearing professor.

At last, the deserts disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet once more. The Hall fell silent. “Ahem…just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.”

Dumbledore’s twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. Of course, those two pranksters would be the ones to enter a ‘forbidden’ forest.

Dumbledore shifted and continued, “I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.”

Well there was an excuse for that foreboding feeling that I was still feeling.

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” cried Dumbledore. The other professors’ smiles seemed to freeze and become rather forced. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it. It rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snake-like, into words. “Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!”

And the school bellowed:

**“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,**

**Teach us something please,**

**Whether we be old and bald**

**Or young with scabby knees,**

**Our heads could do with filling**

**With some interesting stuff,**

**For now they’re bare and full of air, **

**Dead flies and bits of fluff, **

**So teach us things worth knowing,**

**Bring back what we’ve forgot,**

**Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,**

**And learn until our brains rot.”**

Everybody finished the song at different times until only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was the one who clapped the loudest.

“Ah, music,” he said while wiping his eyes. “A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!”

I stood up with my fellow Slytherin first-years and followed Gemma Farley through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and down to the stone staircase toward the dungeons. I was starting to realize just how tired I was as we followed behind Farley. My feet were starting to feel heavy, and I found myself moving more slowly than I normally did. As we continued down the stairs and into the castle, I could feel the temperature becoming slightly colder. At some point we had entered the dungeons of Hogwarts, but I really wasn’t paying too much attention in my exhausted state.

Finally, Farley stopped us in front of a stone wall and turned to face us. “This is the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. To enter all you need to do is say the password to the wall. Obviously if nothing happens, then you either have the wrong wall or the wrong password. Passwords change every two weeks and they will be posted on the noticeboard inside the Common Room. Under no circumstances are you **ever **to bring students from other Houses into the Common Room or reveal the password to anyone else. No outsider has entered the Common Room for more than seven centuries, and we would like to keep it that way. If you are found to have broken this rule, then Professor Snape, our Head of House, will be notified and will determine your punishment.”

After that slightly menacing warning, Farley turned back to the wall. I could just barely hear her mutter, “Snakes’ Pit” before the passage was revealed. We all walked through the passage and entered the Common Room. Looking around, I took in the green-themed décor.

The Slytherin Common Room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of us. There were lots of low-backed black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas, skulls and dark wood cupboards. It was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. The room had quite the grand atmosphere, but it was also rather dreary with the enchanted walls revealing the dark depths of the lake.

Farley directed us to the doors at the other end of the room. “Boys through this door and girls through the other one.” I went in with the other girls in my year, and we came across five ancient four-poster beds spread around the rectangular room, each with green silk hangings fitted at the heads. Next to each bed was a small wardrobe and a full-length mirror. From the ceiling hung silver lanterns, and outside the windows I could hear the lake moving in the outside breeze.

All of our trunks had already been brought up and each placed at the end of a bed. My trunk was placed in front of the bed farthest from the door, but closest to the bathroom door, which was fine by me. Flèche’s empty cage was on the floor next to my trunk, and I guessed a house elf had already taken him to the Owlery. I moved towards my trunk, unlocked it, and took out one of my pajamas sets while the rest of the girls did the same. I was one of the first done, soon followed by the girl whose bed was next to mine.

Both of us were just sitting on our beds, tired but unable to sleep yet. I guessed now was as good a time as any to figure out one of my roommates. I turned to her and politely began to chat. “Hello. I didn’t catch your name at dinner. I’m Esme Archard.”

She looked slightly startled that I spoke to her, but she soon fixed herself and shyly replied, “I’m Daphne Greengrass. It’s nice to meet you, Archard.”

I instantly replied with a fake bright smile, “Oh, please call me Esme. After all, we are sharing a room.”

Daphne brightened as she replied, “Only if you call me Daphne.”

“Alright, Daphne.”

Observing Daphne’s reactions, I could tell that she was honestly happy that I talked to her. She seemed to be a genuinely nice girl. “If you don’t already have plans, would you like to go to the Great Hall together for breakfast?”

She brightened again. “Oh yes, that sounds lovely! Then if we share the same classes, we can walk together.”

“It’s settled then.” I genuinely smiled, leaning back into my clean sheets. “Good night, Daphne.”

“Good night, Esme!” She, too, climbed into her bed.

I must have been more tired than I thought, for I fell asleep almost at once.

* * *

Imbécile = idiot

* * *

Bonus POVs

Draco POV

When I heard that dingy old hat sort Esme into Slytherin, I felt nothing short of satisfaction. It was a shame not all of her siblings were quite up to the same standard. I already knew I would be sorted in the most noble of Houses, just like Father. Now that we were to be in the same House, I could look after her and get close to her.

Watching her walk to the Slytherin table, my eyes were drawn to her long blonde hair flowing behind her in bouncing curls. The candle light really made her hair glow…gah, what was I thinking? It was just hair. I turned back toward the stool, forcing myself to watch the next little snot nosed brat get sorted.

Harry POV

I glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there right next to Malfoy, who I was pleased to see didn’t look too pleased with the seating arrangements. I looked over and saw Esme sitting right next to Malfoy, smiling like they were the best of friends. Our eyes then met, and her smile brightened. I automatically started to smile back when Ron spoke.

“Ugh, I should’ve known she was a snake on the train. Look at her now being all friendly with Malfoy. I bet you she’s telling Malfoy all things we said on the train and laughing at us.”

The idea that Esme would tell Malfoy about the things on the train made me lose my smile. I turned to Ron, “Esme isn’t like that.” But even as I said that, there was a small voice in my head saying the opposite. Was she really just like Dudley and his friends, laughing at my expense? I shook those thoughts away. Esme was different, she was my first friend. I was then filled with guilt for doubting her. I tried to catch her eye again as dinner vanished and was replaced by desert, but Esme never looked over at the Gryffindor table again, except to look at Neville.

For some reason, when Neville smiled at her and she smiled back with her green eyes sparkling, I felt the guilt make a knot in my stomach. Tomorrow. I would talk to her tomorrow and we would clear things up then.

Neville POV

I just finished telling everyone about how Gran and Great-Uncle Algie were so pleased about me coming here to Hogwarts and buying me my toad, Trevor. I felt like someone was looking at me and risked looking around for who it was, hoping it wasn’t Malfoy again. He really scared me.

But when I looked up, I saw that it was that really nice girl from before…Esme Archard, I thought her name was – and she was smiling at me. Me, of all people. I smiled back at her as best as I could. Her face seemed to just light up and her eyes sparkled. I felt my face burn all the way to my ears. I couldn’t believe that she was sorted into Slytherin. She was nothing like Malfoy or the others.

Esme’s eyes suddenly clouded over and…I thought they darkened, but I was too far away to see. She winced as if she was in pain.

“Ouch!” Harry had clapped a hand to his head. I looked away from Esme to look over at Harry. Percy asked Harry what was wrong, but Harry insisted that it was nothing. I looked back over to Esme, but she was no longer looking in my direction. I hoped that she was alright too…

Severus POV

I felt another’s gaze burning into my head. Thinking it was Potter, I adorned my famous sneer, only for my eyes to meet a different pair of green eyes. Shock echoed through my being, but not enough that I couldn’t contain it. I wasn’t a Master Legilimens for nothing. But her eyes…Lily’s eyes…she had Lily’s eyes. I couldn’t look at her anymore and turned away back to my conversation with the stuttering Quirrell.

But my thoughts still lingered on the girl with Lily’s eyes. She was one of my snakes, what was her name? Oh yes, she was one of the Archard children, the youngest here at the moment, if I recall. I wondered if she had anything else in common with Lily…


	6. The First Week

Esme POV 

I was walking through a dark corridor. I couldn’t make out any details, and all I could see was a faint light in the distance. I was neither hot nor cold but felt an urgency to reach the end of the corridor. I didn’t know what was waiting for me, I just knew it was important. The urgency began to increase, so I picked up speed, starting to run. Panic filled me until I was almost sprinting down the corridor – yet, I never seemed to get any closer to the light; if anything, it seemed even farther away. Suddenly I tripped, and I was falling down, down into darkness…

I awoke with a start, the panic from my dream still coursing through me. I sat up in my bed and took in my surroundings…that’s right... I was at Hogwarts, in my dorm room. I pulled back the curtains around my bed, and as far as I could tell, none of the other girls were awake yet. Deciding to take advantage of this, I got out of bed, grabbed the things I needed from my trunk, and hurried to the bathroom to get ready.

I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when the other girls began to wander into the bathroom. Daphne came over next to me as she worked a knot out of her hair. Yawning delicately, she said, “Good morning, Esme.” I just nodded in return, as I was unable to speak at the moment without dripping toothpaste down my blouse.

Once I had brushed my teeth, I turned toward Daphne. “I’ll wait for you in the common room when you’re ready.” She acknowledged that she heard me before I walked back to my bed. In front of my mirror I pinned the sides of my hair back with my usual silver butterfly pins, then gathered my supplies and books into my bag. 

I left the dorm and entered the common room. There wasn’t anyone there; everyone I saw was heading right for the doorway on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. I walked slowly up to the bulletin board near the doorway to see what the password was for the week, which had not changed from last night (the password was still ‘Snake’s Pit’). I sat down on one of the couches to wait for Daphne, toying with the strap on my bag.

I hadn’t been waiting long before someone exited the first-year corridor; it wasn’t Daphne but Draco Malfoy, followed by those two large boys from the train ride whose names I did not remember. As Draco and his ‘bodyguards’ approached the doorway out of the common room, he noticed me and abruptly changed directions toward me instead.

Draco held out his hand to me with a slight bow as he said, “Good morning, Esme. I hope you slept well. How are you?” 

I gave him my hand, on which he then placed a quick light kiss on it, as I responded, “Good morning, Draco. I’m fine, thank you.”

He let go of my hand and glanced at my bag next to me. “I see that you’re all ready for the day. May I escort you to the Great Hall?”

Before I could give any sort of response, someone shouted, “Draco!” All of us turned toward the sound to see one of my dormmates, followed by the other two, running toward us. The girl in front, who I guessed was the one who had yelled, attached herself to Draco’s side when she reached him.

I noticed that Draco’s eye twitched a bit before he lightly pushed her back. “Ah…Pansy, I see you’re already heading up to breakfast.” Oh, that’s right! Her name was Pansy Parkinson.

Pansy focused only on Draco, ignoring me and everyone else altogether. “Yes! Now we can walk up together!” Draco glanced at me, which Pansy caught. She frowned, then turned to glare at me. Well then, looks like someone was more than a bit possessive.

I gave Draco a polite smile and said, “Thank you, but I am waiting for Daphne Greengrass. She and I agreed last night to walk up together this morning. You should walk up with Parkinson and the rest.”

Draco frowned slightly. “Alright, if you’re sure.” I nodded, and he turned to leave, with Pansy following closely (after sending me a smug look, as though she had won something). Draco’s ever silent bodyguards left after the two girls that were accompanying Pansy.

I sighed with relief once they had all disappeared through the doorway. It would be exhausting to follow all of the etiquette rules all the time. Pansy Parkinson though…she was certainly a character. I couldn’t see us getting along at all if she was already glaring at me just for Draco wanting to walk up to the Great Hall with me. Honestly, she could have him for all I cared. I just hoped we could all be civil with each other, especially when we would be living together for the next seven years.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice that Daphne had finally came out of the dormitory until she was right in front of me. “Sorry it took me so long, Pansy, Millicent, and the other girl hogged the sinks.”

I stood and threw my bag strap over my shoulder before facing Daphne again. “It’s alright, I wasn’t waiting long and besides, we still have plenty of time for breakfast – that is, if we manage to avoid getting lost.” We both giggled good-naturally as we left the common room and entered the dungeon through the doorway. I could feel the temperature drop slightly; I already missed the fireplace in the common room.

“In case we get separated during the day, the password is Snake’s Pit,” I said to Daphne as we walked.

“Oh, thank you! It completely slipped my mind to check the bulletin board.”

As we continued on our way up to the Great Hall, I took the time to observe Daphne a bit more out of the corner of my eye. I noticed that we were about the same height, with her being slightly shorter than me. We both wore our uniforms the same way; everything pressed smartly and tucked in neatly but comfortably. Daphne was also blonde, though her hair was whiter than mine; however, she was not as platinum blonde as Draco. Her own slightly wavy hair was long, hanging down to her shoulder blades and pulled back with a black bow hairband, keeping it out of her pale blue eyes.

We reached the Great Hall and headed straight to the area where we sat last night, seeing our fellow first-years were already there. As we walked between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, I glanced over at the Gryffindor table. I didn’t see Harry or Weasley, but I did notice Neville and Hermione already eating. I did note that Fred and George were there already (hard to miss that red hair of theirs). Neville glanced up and our eyes met, so I smiled a bit at him before reaching my spot and settling down next to Daphne with my back to the Gryffindor table.

Conversation with Daphne proved to be easy over breakfast. We covered the basic ‘get to know you’ type of questions and discovered that we shared a taste in music. Soon, the tall, black-haired professor from last night approached our end of the table. 

In a soft voice that surprisingly carried, he said, “Good morning first-years. For those of you who do not know, I am your Head of House, Professor Snape. As members of Slytherin House I expect you to attend all of your classes on time, as I will not tolerate tardiness from any of my House. Slytherin House has won the House Cup the last six years, and I expect all of you to continue that legacy. This school does not tolerate rule-breakers, so if caught you will be punished severely, I can promise you all that.”

I nodded along, then a thought struck me. If we’re caught…he was not actually forbidding us from breaking the rules! He just said not to get caught…interesting…

I snapped out of my thoughts as he continued, “I will be handing out your schedules to you now. If you have any questions, ask your Prefects or older Housemates. If you must, you can come to my office in the dungeons. As the newest Slytherins, I give you one rule that you must always abide by…Protect your House because no one else will.” 

His words filled me with nerves. Were the other Houses actually that biased toward Slytherin? I hoped not…

Professor Snape proceeded to hand out our schedules and mine was first on the stack. When he handed the parchment to me, I looked up with a polite smile. “Thank you, Sir.” My own green eyes met his almost black eyes, and he seemed to freeze. His previously empty and cold face seemed to soften before he blinked and turned away toward the next student. That was a peculiar reaction, but at least he didn’t seem to dislike me on sight, unlike the flat look he gave to both of Draco’s ‘bodyguards’ just now.

As soon as Daphne got her schedule, we compared them and saw they were exactly the same. We had Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Herbology classes. I supposed I should had known that all first-year students would have the same schedule. We all take the same required classes, and Professor McGonagall did say that we would spend the most time with our Housemates.

Daphne and I finished breakfast quickly to head to our first class, giving us plenty of time to get there in case we got lost.

Walking to our classes was tedious to say the least. There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts (or so they told me – it wouldn’t surprise me at all if there were even more than that); some wide and sweeping, some narrow and rickety, some that led somewhere one day and somewhere else another, and some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were the doors that won't open unless you asked them politely, which Daphne and I always did the first time, or the ones that weren’t really doors, but solid walls pretending to be. I’m sad to admit that we fell for two of those apiece during that first week.

On top of all that, there was Peeves the Poltergeist. His sole purpose of existence appeared to be an eternal pest. It didn’t matter what House you belonged to, if you were in the corridors then you were an open target. He was pelting Daphne and me with chalk when a small group of older Slytherins chased him off by threatening to send the Bloody Baron after him. 

The ones who saved us were Marcus Flint and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Marcus was in the same year as Alaric and Blaire, and he seemed to be among the more arrogant Slytherins. Though he was kind enough to perform a cleaning charm on us before he escorted us to our next class when we hadn’t even asked him to do either. 

Besides Peeves there was Argus Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris. They patrolled the corridors for rule breakers and did not like the students being even one toe out of line. I honestly felt bad for anyone who actually got on his bad side. He was already a naturally ill-tempered man.

To no one’s surprise, it was very easy to get lost in the corridors. Thankfully, the older Slytherin students would give us correct directions when they had the time, and Daphne and I discovered a portrait of a past-Slytherin Elizabeth Burke that gave us easy directions (though she was very persistent about telling us to be nasty to the Mudbloods, which I found to be mildly upsetting). 

I had been unfamiliar with the term before Daphne explained it to me, though I noticed that she was tense while doing so, and honestly, I didn’t blame her. I may have found Muggles to be annoying from my brief experience with them, but to condemn a fellow witch or wizard for just being born from them seemed excessive to me. Daphne’s reaction to the term proved that this would be a sensitive subject among our Housemates. I decided to keep my thoughts to myself and wait until I learned everyone’s position on the matter. Papa always said it’s better to learn the whole equation and its variables before spouting your conclusion.

The classes themselves I found to vary from extravagantly thrilling to deathly boring, mostly dependent on the professor. Astronomy was an interesting subject matter and I’d always had a small fascination in stars and planets, though it was tedious to wake up in the middle of the night for the class. Herbology was easily my least favorite class. I’d never been talented in working with plants, and I didn’t expect any sort of skill to suddenly step forth (though it would really help and be greatly appreciated). 

History of Magic proved the most boring class ever simply due to the ghost instructor, Professor Binns. While the material had the potential to be interesting, the semi-transparent professor droned on continually non-stop in a dull voice. Students would very obviously fall asleep during class, and Professor Binns either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Charms was an interesting subject and was taught by Professor Flitwick, a tiny wizard that had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. 

Transfiguration would be a difficult course due to the complex subject matter, not to mention the strict instructor, Professor McGonagall. During the first lesson of transforming a match into a needle, I struggled and was unable to do it by the end of class. Defense Against the Dark Arts proved to be a disappointment, mostly due to Professor Quirrell’s hesitancy and constant stuttering. I did hope that he would at least be able to teach properly later on in the year, even if he struggled to get out a full sentence now.

All throughout the week, Daphne and I continued to grow closer together as friends. I was finding myself comfortable around her and was able to be more genuine with her. Draco continued to insert himself into my life whenever he could, and while I’d learned more about him, I still found myself keeping a distance. Thankfully, we agreed that we no longer needed to be so formal together and dropped a lot of the etiquette rules, such as him kissing my hand (not to mention it was getting strange looks from some students from the other Houses who walked by). 

Parkinson continued with her angry glaring at me, though we had yet to actually have a real conversation with each other. Yet, I’d decided I didn’t like her. The other girls from our dorm, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis, had attached themselves to Parkinson as her loyal groupies. They avoided me because Parkinson did, but only Bulstrode took part in the glaring (Tracey tended to look uncomfortable and simply avoided my eyes). Crabbe and Goyle had remained the silent bodyguards of Draco, though I had observed from classes that those two really weren’t the shiniest galleons in the pouch.

I had made myself another friend in Theodore Nott, though I called him Theo for short. Daphne, Theo, and I often studied and did our homework together, both in the library and in the common room. While Theo was a sweet boy, he was also quite cunning, which explained his placement into Slytherin. I had played Wizard’s Chess a few times with him and he won every single time, much to my frustration; I hated losing, and Theo laughing at my pouting didn’t help my mood. 

Theo’s friend Blaise Zabini was sometimes with the three of us. I honestly didn’t know how I felt about Blaise. He was a friendly person and amused me to no end. Theo was the closest person to Blaise, that much was obvious, but everyone else was kept at an almost unnoticeable distance. To my knowledge, I was the only one besides Theo to notice.

Slytherin House had a surprising number of classes with the Gryffindors, and to my own surprise, I found myself disliking this more often than not. It was not because of any ‘us against them’ feelings or that I had anything against the Gryffindors. No, it was because of Hermione Granger and her annoying need to answer every single question in that voice that sounded like she was talking down to you. She literally jumped up in her seat multiple times in one class to raise her hand and preened when she was praised for (of course) giving the right answer. If the professors called on someone else, she would actually sulk until another question was asked and she jumped up once again. 

I understood that she might be smart, but she was going overboard and showing off. Parkinson and Draco were already calling her rude names; I personally agreed with Miss Know-It-All, though I had no intention of ever saying that to her face. I hoped she would relax soon, because she was not making herself any friends this way. I noticed that even those in her own House were getting fed up with her already, especially the other girls.

Other than Granger the other students were fairly tolerable. Weasley still glares at me, but to be fair, he glared at all of the Slytherins (though he was smart enough to only do that with fellow first-years). Draco had made it his personal vendetta to pick on Har-Potter and Weasley whenever possible, although to be honest I was really not sure why (the Weasley’s were poor and Potter was raised by Muggles, but so what?). I kept up appearances when he did, but I never joined or really laughed along. 

Daphne and I both wanted to avoid those types of confrontations. I hadn’t had much actual contact with any Gryffindors, as they tended to shun us most of the time. Potter was still avoiding me, to my disappointment; after he clearly sidestepped me when I tried to talk with him, I stopped trying. Most of the time, I was still holding some hope that maybe he just was adjusting, and soon he would want to talk to me again.

Neville and I continued our friendly greetings, which always brightened my day. While we mostly just smiled at each other, it was more than any Gryffindor could do, besides Blaire and Alaric that is.

Parkinson and her friends were always calling him a bumbling fool, but I knew Neville was just shy. Whenever I heard them making fun of him, I did my best to quickly and subtly change the subject. I didn’t believe anyone had really noticed that I did this. Well, Daphne did notice and she also helped when she could.

One thing that had been an adjustment was not seeing my siblings nearly as much as I usually did. When we all had been confined to the mansion together, it was impossible to not see them (even when I didn’t want to). But now, I only really saw them at meals or briefly in the corridors, although Alaric did make a point to check on me during his free periods and Blaire told me if I ever needed her I could just send her a note. 

At last it was Friday, the last day of our first week of classes. We had finally worked out an unofficial bathroom schedule, with Daphne and I up earlier before the other girls to get there first. Even after a week, Daphne and I still got lost on the staircases, so we had gotten into the habit of leaving for and from meals in the Great Hall early, just in case. Though none of the Slytherins had yet to be late (thanks to Professor Snape’s warning, no one wanted to be the first), Daphne and I were always the first ones to arrive among the Snakes.

I was especially excited today because we finally had our first Potions lesson. I’d always been fascinated by potions books and Blaire was always happy to share them with me. Now I would finally get to actually make the potions I had read about. One small damper on my mood, however, was that potions was shared with the Gryffindors. 

Daphne and I were in the middle of breakfast when the owls flew in with letters and packages from home. I could easily spot Potter’s snowy owl; she truly was a beautiful bird. This morning, Flèche arrived with not one, but two letters. I recognized one as being from Fain and Gérard because they wrote the whole thing in French.

**Dear Little Butterfly,**

**We’d like to say home is quieter without you, but that’s a lie! We try to keep things exciting here for the rest of our siblings! Sadly, without our usual victims, we mostly just practice avoiding getting caught in our own pranks. (We still smell from those dung bombs). Mom and Dad are happy about your new House, but Fain and I could tell that they were worried too. Many of those Slytherin families are like the ones we left behind in France. Mom is also worried about you being alone, but we think you’ll be fine. We know you the best, after all. Little Shadow misses her Butterfly. She’s been carrying that toy lamb you gave her around everywhere. Mom thinks it’s adorable. She sends you her love (Janette, not Mom, though Mom does love you too, we just haven’t talked with her). We’re glad to hear about your new friend but are angry about those two Gryffindor boys. Just give us the word and we’ll send them a very fun package! Those other twins sound amazing!! Please send us detailed descriptions of their pranks since we can’t witness them yet!**

**Your favorite set of twins,**

** Gérard and Fain**

Daphne glanced at the letter in my hand. “Is that in French?” she asked.

I replied while laughing, “Yes, and I know what you’re thinking. They have _ très terrible _ handwriting.”

Daphne joined in with her own laugh, “_ Oui _!”

Daphne, having lived in Britain, had been teaching me the British forms of many words and customs while I taught her French in exchange. Daphne continued eating while I opened the second unfamiliar letter written in a very untidy scrawl, even worse than that of the twins.

**Dear Esme,**

**I know you were sorted into Slytherin and all, but since you get Friday afternoons off, would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send me an answer back with your owl.**

**Hagrid**

I felt a warm feeling blossom in my chest. Hagrid was still being so kind to me even after I got sorted – it was good to know that not everyone was against Slytherins. I pulled out one of my quills and a piece of parchment and neatly scribbled out my answer.

**Dear Hagrid,**

**I would love to have tea with you. I look forward to seeing you later.**

**Esme**

I rolled it up and sent it off with Flèche , who flew away at once and almost upended the jug of orange juice in the process. I was left with just enough time to finish my breakfast before Daphne and I left to make our way to the Potions classroom. 

Potions lessons took place down in the dungeons, so we knew from experience that the walk was a bit far. We entered the classroom and were (as usual) among the first few to arrive. We took our usual seats next to each other, with Daphne being on the end and me in the middle. The seats open to my right were soon taken by Theo and Blaise.

As we were getting settled, more students began to trickle in. Daphne leaned toward me and whispered, “This room is a lot creepier than the rest of the dungeons with those pickled animals and things all stacked along the walls.”

I answered back at the same low volume, “I believe Professor Snape did that on purpose. Look at the dust on them, he obviously doesn’t use them for potion ingredients.”

Suddenly, the professor in question strolled into the classroom, the door slamming shut behind him. He didn’t say anything at first before he started to take stock of who was here.

After a moment of silence, he began to call the roll in his usual soft voice, that somehow still carried across the (now silent) classroom.

“Ah, yes. Harry Potter,” Professor Snape drawled, coming to the name of the black-haired first-year. “Our new…celebrity.” Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Professor Snape finished calling the names and looked over us all; the cold look was ever-present in his dark eyes.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making,” he began, setting his roll sheet on the edge of his desk with a soft click. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…if, of course, you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

A dead silence set in after his speech, with everyone doing their best to avoid shifting and breaking the stillness. I found myself completely fixated on Professor Snape; he truly had a gift for keeping a class silent and at attention. Hearing his words, I knew that he was a gifted Potion Master, and I felt the drive to prove myself capable to him.

“Potter!” Professor Snape said suddenly, whipping around and causing his pitch-black robes to flare out behind him. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Granger’s hand shot into the air instantly, held perfectly straight, with a small pleading look on her face. I internally rolled my eyes at her. Seriously? Professor Snape asked Potter specifically, so why bother raising your hand when he won’t call on you? “I don’t know, Sir,” Potter replied. As he said this, the answer popped into my head, thanks to all the reading I had done over the month before the start of term – it was the most powerful known sleeping potion, called the Draught of Living Death.

Professor Snape’s lips curled into a sneer. “Tut, tut. Fame clearly isn’t everything.” He didn’t even glance at Hermione with her hand only now slowly sinking. “Let’s try again. Potter, where would you find me a bezoar?”

Once again Granger’s hand shot up as high as it could go, the pleading looks more obvious on her face. At Potter’s confused face and silence, Draco and his friends began shaking with barely-contained laughter. I really was starting to feel bad for Harry, with Professor Snape obviously singling him out.

“I don’t know, Sir.”

“Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, eh Potter?” Professor Snape snapped back, his sneer still very much present. He continued to ignore Granger’s now shaking hand. “What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

This time Granger actually stood up slightly, her hand stretching toward the ceiling. At this point, I had a lot of emotions swirling inside me. Annoyance directed at Granger for her idiotic actions. Confusion directed at Professor Snape for how different he seemed from the man who handed me my schedule. Pity directed at Potter for being put on the spot. I hoped that he could at least answer this question. It was easy – they were the same plant.

Potter finally spoke up, just loud enough for all of us to hear, “I don’t know, Professor…I think Hermione does though, why don’t you try her?”

A few people laughed, but I was frozen still in shock. That was the wrong thing to say Potter, you chose the wrong Professor to sass. My breath caught as Professor Snape’s sneer turned partly into a glare, and his gaze actually became colder, which I didn’t think was possible.

“Sit down!” he snapped at Granger, finally looking at her. “For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.” He paused, looking around. “Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?”

There was a rush of sudden noise as people rummaged for quills and parchment. I was already prepared and started writing down my notes, and Daphne, on my left, did the same. Over the noise Professor Snape said, “And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter.”

I would like to say that the Potions lesson improved after that, and it did – for the Slytherins, that was. Professor Snape put all of us into pairs, and luckily, he put Daphne and me together. He then set us to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. 

While we all measured and weighed our ingredients, Professor Snape swept around in his long black cloak. He criticized almost everyone at one point or another, and I noticed that this was mostly directed at the Gryffindors. He only really criticized a member of Slytherin if they were actually doing something seriously wrong (and he never once criticized Draco).

When Professor Snape looked over at Daphne’s and my station, he seemed to almost linger. I felt his eyes on me as I weighed the crushed snake fangs, and I really thought he was about to say something when he abruptly turned and continued on with his trek through the pairs. Now that I thought about it, Professor Snape hadn’t yet criticized our work either…

Professor Snape was back to Draco’s station and was telling the class to look at the perfect way Draco had stewed his horned slugs when a cloud of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the room. Neville had somehow managed to melt his and his partner’s cauldron into a twisted mound, and their potion was now seeping out across the stone floor. 

I wasted no time climbing on top of my stool and yanked Daphne up on hers as well just as the potion rushed right beneath where we were standing. Some others weren’t so quick to react and had holes burned into their shoes as proof. Poor Neville had been drenched in the potion when his cauldron collapsed and was moaning in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. I wanted to do something to help him, but there was nothing I could do from my current position on top of my stool, and I was not about to jump down into the sticky, oozing mess on the floor below.

“Idiot boy!” snarled Professor Snape while clearing away the spilled potion with just one wave of his wand. “I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?” Neville just continued to whimper as the boils spread to his face, one large one popping up on his nose. This was not the time to yell at him, I thought, Neville must be in a lot of pain right now.

“Take him up to the hospital wing,” Professor Snape spat at Neville’s partner. Then he pivoted around to face Harry and his redheaded partner, who had been working next to Neville and his partner (whose name I did not know). “You. Potter. Why didn’t you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he’d make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That’s another point you’ve lost for Gryffindor.”

I knew that was unfair, but I also knew better than to poke an already angry bear. However, it appeared that Potter did not have the same sense as he opened his mouth, most likely to argue, when Weasley whispered something to him that got him to drop it. Looked like Weasley had some sense after all or – at least, a decent sense of self-preservation.

“Back to your potions!” Professor Snape snapped at the rest of us. 

Daphne and I climbed down from our stools and checked on our (now most likely ruined) potion. Daphne said to me, “Thank you, by the way, for pulling me up on the stool. Had you not, the potion would have burned into my shoes like the others.”

I gave her a genuine smile, placing an arm around her shoulders. “What are friends for?” Daphne smiled back gratefully before we refocused on our potion. We spent the next hour redoing the whole potion, but it was worth it because it came out perfectly. I bottled it up and labeled it while Daphne cleaned up our equipment. I turned in our vial onto Professor Snape’s desk, and then Daphne and I left the classroom for the Slytherin common room. 

Thankfully, I had a few hours before tea with Hagrid. After an eventful Potions lesson, I needed some time to unwind. I had asked Daphne if she wanted to come along, but she said no, mostly because she had never met Hagrid and didn’t want to intrude. If anyone other than Daphne had said that, I would’ve thought that they were being snobbish about Hagrid, but Daphne was honestly just that polite.

When it was almost three, I got a few things together to head over to Hagrid’s hut across the grounds. He lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I reached his hut just past three, and I was slightly winded from the trek, which had taken me longer than I thought it would. 

As I approached, I heard voices coming from inside. I knocked on the large wooden door and heard a booming bark and a softer groan followed by frantic scrabbling. Then Hagrid’s voice rang out, “Back, Fang. Back.” He cracked open the door and peered out at me standing on the threshold. “Ah, Esme. Glad yeh made it!”

He opened the door a bit more to let me in and closed it behind me. “Thank you again for the invitation, Hagrid,” I said while giving Hagrid my best polite smile. Hagrid was struggling to hold a very large black boarhound. I was feeling nervous when Hagrid released it, only for it to scamper up to me and begin to lick my face enthusiastically. I couldn’t help but giggle at the unexpected friendliness of such an intimidating dog.

“What is **she **doing here?” The pleasant atmosphere was ruined by none other than Weasley. I turned to find him and Potter at an unusually large table, looking very small on the furniture around them.

“Ron,” Potter admonished quietly, nudging him with his foot when he thought I wasn’t looking. Weasley huffed at Potter’s warning but continued to glare at me, his face turning redder by the moment.

Straightening my (already straight) posture, I coolly looked at Weasley. “_ Pardon petit branleur _, but I was invited. Same as you I assume.”

His face got redder as he turned toward Hagrid. “Why would you invite **her** here. She’s a snake!”

Hagrid replied in a firm voice, looking unusually stern, “Yes, she is. But she is also a sweet girl. I dunno what happened between yeh two, but yer too young to be this angry at each other. Yer House ain’t everything, ya know.”

“I have nothing against Weasley,” I said. Okay that was an outright lie, I did have some things against him, but I could at least set them aside and be civil. He, on the other hand, seemed to have the manners of a five-year-old.

Weasley agreed to be civil and we all settled in Hagrid’s hut for tea. I sat at the only table with Hagrid while the boys moved to the large couch. Hagrid made tea in a large, bulky teapot and served us homemade cakes that were, literally, as hard as rocks – they almost broke my teeth! I pretended to like them along with Potter and Weasley for Hagrid’s sake. I fed mine to Fang, who laid down underneath my chair, when Hagrid was facing the boys. He actually seemed to like them.

We told Hagrid all about our first lessons this past week. Fang gave me one last lick before moving over to rest his head on Potter’s knee, drooling all over his robes. I giggled quietly to myself, though I thought Potter heard me because he became slightly flushed. The boys were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch ‘that old git’, while I was amused.

“An’ as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I’d like ter introduce her to Fang some time. D’yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can’t get rid of her. Filch puts her up to it,” Hagrid complained, waving his hand wildly to illustrate his point. I laughed so hard I couldn’t keep my eyes open at Hagrid’s annoyance with Filch’s cat. When I opened my eyes, it seemed like Weasley had been staring at me, but when he caught me looking, he turned redder and looked quickly away. What did I do to make him angry again with me?

Potter began telling Hagrid about Professor Snape’s lesson. Hagrid told him not to worry about it, that Professor Snape liked hardly any of the students. I really felt conflicted when he said that. I knew that Professor Snape was better than they made him seem, he was at least to the Slytherins. And wouldn’t it make sense that he preferred his own House? (Although, I would admit that he was more obvious about it than the other professors were about their own Houses). I wanted to say something, but I knew that anything I said would either be ignored or dismissed as me trying to defend him.

“But he seemed to really **hate** me.” Potter looked genuinely concerned.

“Rubbish!” said Hagrid. “Why would he?” I noticed that when Hagrid said that, he wasn’t looking at Potter anymore and continued to avoid eye contact with him. Hagrid knew something, something he either couldn’t or wouldn’t share. Even I could tell that Professor Snape had something against Potter in particular or else he wouldn’t have singled him out twice in the same class.

“How’s yer brother Charlie?” Hagrid suddenly asked Weasley. “I liked him a lot; great with animals.” Changing the subject now, you’re making yourself even more suspicious Hagrid. Weasley didn’t seem to notice what Hagrid did as he went on to tell us all about the work Charlie was doing with dragons. I almost forgot myself as I became fascinated with the tales Weasley had about his brother’s work. I wondered what it was like to work with dragons; they were, after all, among the more dangerous creatures that existed in our world.

Suddenly, Potter interrupted, as though he had been dying to say something and couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Hagrid! That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might’ve been happening while we were there!”

I was shocked at his exclamation, but my gaze quickly shifted to Hagrid to gauge his reaction. Hagrid was even more obviously avoiding Potter’s eyes this time, something that even Potter noticed. Hagrid didn’t even respond but weakly deflected with a grunt and offering us all another rock cake. 

What Potter said shouldn’t have caused that type of reaction from Hagrid. If they simply were there, like my family was, Hagrid would have assured Harry about their safety or something similar. Instead, Hagrid grew uncomfortable and evasive. Suddenly, an idea struck me. Maybe Hagrid knew what the thieves were trying to take, and it was something he was not allowed to talk about. Wait…if I remembered correctly the newspapers reported that the vault was emptied earlier that day. Could Hagrid have removed whatever it was? That would explain Harry’s curiosity if he was with Hagrid when he visited the vault. The question was, what was in the vault that Hagrid could easily hide from Potter and not visibly carry that the thieves were after…

* * *

Très terrible = very terrible

Oui = yes

Pardon = excuse me/pardon

Petit branleur = little wanker

* * *

Bonus POVs 

Harry POV 

I had come down to breakfast on the first day with the full intention of talking to Esme. I really wanted to apologize and tell her that I still considered her my friend. But when I got there with Ron, she was already getting up to leave with another girl. They were chatting animatedly with each other, and she didn’t even notice me standing by the door. They walked right by me on their way out. 

I was disappointed with myself…why was I now so hesitant to talk to her? I should’ve done more to get her attention…but maybe this was for the best. She seemed to have found a friend in that girl, so she won’t be lonely, and Ron still hated her now just for being sorted into Slytherin House. I honestly didn’t know how to feel about Slytherins. I never knew that I would find a boy that I hated more than Dudley. I hated having to put up with Malfoy. He represented everything bad that Ron told me about Slytherins, yet there was also Esme. She was nothing like how Ron described Slytherins, and nothing like Malfoy either, and I was honestly surprised when she was sorted there.

I’d been racking my brain trying to figure out why the Hat sorted her there. Did it believe that she too could achieve greatness in that House? The only qualities that I noticed was that Esme certainly held herself and acted like one of those medieval ladies you read about in books, and she wasn’t as expressive as other people were. But Esme had been really nice to me in Diagon Alley, and she had never treated me like ‘The Boy-Who-Lived’, but rather as just Harry. Ron was cool and all, but sometimes the wonder in his eyes at my apparent fame made me uncomfortable.

Throughout the week I was battling internally on whether or not I should try to mend things with Esme. I found myself often looking at her as I debated with myself. A few times I tried to approach her but would chicken out at the last second because I never knew what to say.

It was during one of the breaks between lessons on Thursday that Malfoy and his goons cornered Ron and me. “I’ve noticed your interest in Esme, and for your own good you best stay away from her,” he threatened. 

“Why would I ever listen to you!” It came out as less of a question and more of a yell.

He sneered at us, as if he knew much more than we did. “You may be a Potter, but she is a Lady far above your level, both of you. The Archard family is wizarding royalty, and Esme is the only one truly worthy of her family name. You have your own in your pathetic House, stick to them.” I felt my blood boil at his words. “Besides, she wouldn’t be interested anyways. Not when she has proper friends in her own House.”

At that I felt my insecurities rise. Esme did look really happy with that girl, and I noticed two other boys hanging around them too, and if she tried to be friends with me, she could lose those friendships because of the House rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

“Why would we even want to be friends with a bloody snake,” Ron retorted. Malfoy just smirked, appearing satisfied his message was received, before marching away with his goons. Maybe it was for the best that I stayed away from her.

“Ugh that bloody git!” Ron suddenly burst out once they were gone, but I just remained silent, half-heartedly nodding along. We continued our trek toward our next class. Yes, this was for the best…

Snape POV 

I stormed into my classroom in my usual fashion. Looking at their faces, I could already tell most were dunderheads. How I loathed teaching dunderheads. This class was my other first year course, this one with my snakes and McGonagall’s annoying little cubs. Potter was in this class, sitting there all smug just like his father. Let’s see if he inherited anything else from Lily besides her beautiful eyes.

I asked three simple questions and Potter couldn’t even answer them. No, instead he snarked back, just like his father always did. How extraordinarily like his father Potter was. I split the class into working partners and watched as most clumsily made their less-than-passable potions. How hard was it to follow simple directions – appallingly difficult in this lots case.

There were a few exceptions, as there often are. Draco was making use of the books I gave him; couldn’t have my own godson be rubbish at potions. Then there was Esme Archard, who was a natural. I watched as she weighed the crushed snake fangs; she kept one finger in the book on the step she was on while measuring with her free hand, just like Lily did back then…

Finally, this painful double lesson was over. Of course, that oaf Longbottom had to cause a minor explosion. Thankfully, he only caused real damage to himself and the shoes of those around his station, and it was only Miss Archard’s quick reaction that saved her and Miss Greengrass’ shoes from the same fate.

I was sitting at my desk inspecting the potions that the first-years submitted. Some should have refrained from turning it in; the color wasn’t even right! I finally came to one marked with a neat script, Daphne Greengrass and Esme Archard. It was the perfect color. I tested the rest of the criteria and it passed all of them perfectly. She truly was a natural at potions. Perhaps one pair of bright green eyes won’t disappoint me after all...

Third Person POV 

Despite what others may think of Fred and George, they did care about their other brothers. Sure, Percy was a prat most of the time, but he was still their brother. Then there was ickle Ronnie-kins. They did care about him and they showed that they cared by pranking him; just like they did with Percy and their other siblings. It did help that Ron was such an easy and fun target. He never could get back at them, not like Ginny and Charlie could. Plus, Ron never seemed to learn his lesson, and he was just too easy to mess with.

Because they were always looking for openings to prank Ron, they had to pay attention to what he was doing (at least most of the time). Over the course of the first week of classes, Fred and George had noticed a small change in Ron’s behavior. Now Ron had always listened to what Dad and Mum said about Slytherin House, but his reaction to them seemed a bit excessive in their minds, especially when compared to their other brothers. 

When Bill was in school, he never had any real problems with the Slytherins. He had a few issues with some of the more arrogant sods, but Bill made sure to remain unbiased and was fair to all of the Houses when he was Head Boy. 

When Charlie was in school, he didn’t like the Slytherins either, but Charlie had never paid them much mind except when it came to Quidditch. Then again if you weren’t on the Gryffindor team, then you were an enemy of Charlie Weasley, at least on the pitch. 

Percy, being who he was, treated everyone the same as long as they were doing what they were told and could follow directions. He only had a problem with Slytherins if they were breaking the rules. 

The twins themselves may not like some of the Slytherins, especially that git Marcus Flint, but even when they pulled pranks, they never focused too much on one specific Slytherin, unless that person did something to earn their wrath (like Filch did on an almost weekly basis). There were always a few Slytherins who felt the need to call their family blood-traitors, but a well-placed prank usually knocked those gits down a peg.

The twins decided to take a closer look and it was Fred that noticed it. “Hey Forge, ickle Ronnie-kins keeps glaring an awful lot at that one Slytherin girl.”

“Which one?” asked George.

“The long haired, honey blonde first-year.”

“Wait…she’s the younger sister of those two Gryffindor fifth years; Blaire and her twin brother,” said George, remembering Blaire and her siblings at the Sorting Ceremony.

“Oh, knew her name did you. Have you got a little crush there, Forge?” teased Fred.

“Shut it, we’re not talking about me!” quickly replied George, a small blush visible on his face.

“Easy, brother mine. Anyways, Ron’s been glaring at that girl more than the others, even the ickle Malfoy,” said Fred.

“Gred, do you think that ickle Ronnie-kins- “

“-has his first crush?”

Both boys wore matching mischievous grins as they agreed in unison: “Exactly.”

“Poor ickle Ron,” Fred continued. “He just doesn’t know how to deal with it.”

“Should we help him out, dear Gred?” asked George.

“And lose our main source of entertainment?” Fred asked in return.

Both twins spoke at the same time, “Never!”


	7. Flying Lesson

Esme POV

It was now the beginning of the second week of classes. If the coursework continued as it had last week, then I thought the year wouldn't be too demanding (then again, I may have had jinxed myself just now and it may get much harder). Yes, there was quite a bit of work assigned; however, most of it was long term assignments, and if you finish them early or spread the work over time, then it would not be that challenging.

Parkinson and her little posse were always complaining about their homework, often loudly and in the presence of the rest of us. They tended to put it off until the last moment, but I would say they did put all their effort into it. I was surprised to learn from Theo that Draco was actually quite smart and completed his work in a timely manner. He just didn't seem like the type to me, though if I had to guess, I would say pleasing both his father and Professor Snape was a large motivator.

Speaking of the Potions Master, I had noticed that he had been treating me differently from the other students, apart from Draco that was. In class he never once reprimanded or corrected me, and though his tone did not change when he talked to me, I noticed that his eyes were softer and seemed less disapproving. I remembered when Papa told me during one of our lessons that the eyes were the window to the soul more often than not. A person can change their body language and facial expression, but the eyes will almost always betray them. Professor Snape's eyes, while piercing in their black color, had a distinct softness when he spoke to me one on one.

I told this to Daphne last night as we got ready for bed, and she said that I must be seeing things. I think she didn't see it because she had never actually looked Professor Snape in the eyes long enough to take notice. She didn't deny this but still insisted it was just a trick of the light. I pride myself in my observation skills, but to avoid further argument with Daphne I agreed to disagree. I would let it go for now, since it really didn’t make much of a difference and I was not about to hurt my friendship with Daphne over something so small.

This morning Daphne and I got up before the other girls (as usual) in order to have the bathroom to ourselves. After we finished, we headed out to the Common Room. On our way to the door, I saw some new notices were posted on the board.

“Oh, the new password for this week must be up," Daphne said, also catching the sight of the green and silver parchment containing the new password. We walked over to read it and found that there was more there than just the new password. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday, and Slytherin and Gryffindor would be learning together.

"_Vous plaisantez_! We have another lesson with the Gryffindors," I moaned. It was not that I gave any credit to the House rivalry, I just really didn't enjoy the petty insults and glaring whenever the professor wasn't looking. Also, Hermione Granger was unbearable in lessons of pretty much any sort.

Daphne replied, "Wait, don't tell me…_vous plaisantez_…that means come on, right?"

"_Très bien_! You're catching on quickly, Daphne," I said happily, winking as we made our way out the door and into the dim dungeon corridor beyond.

Daphne blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thank you, and I know what you meant. That Granger girl is getting on my nerves too. She really is an insufferable ‘Know-It-All’, as they call her. Maybe with flying lessons she'll finally back off - you can't learn to fly from a book, after all. Unless you're talking about Quidditch teams, then perhaps she’ll have something to say. But no matter what you read, spouting off facts won’t stop you from hitting the ground."

"You're right. Though knowing that girl, I feel like she will certainly try to learn to fly from a book. She really does put too much faith in the written word," I replied breezily. We reached the stairs and began to climb, talking slowly to keep our breath steady as we went up the steep staircase. "Do you already know how to fly, Daphne?"

"Oh no, I don't. Mother would never allow me on a broom so young. It can be dangerous if done incorrectly, you know. What about you? Did your older siblings ever try to teach you?" Daphne asked.

"Well…Alaric is quite good on a broom, so are the twins Carlisle and Dustin for that matter; however, those two are more Quidditch fans than frequent flyers. I’ve never been on a broom before. Papa and Maman never forbade it exactly, I had just rather spend my time doing other things. For example, spending time with my little sister Maude. We would spend hours together at times, either me doing her hair or reading to her."

"Well then, now we can learn to fly for the first time together," said Daphne as we reached the Great Hall. I grinned, happy to have something new to share with my friend.

During breakfast, talk about flying and Quidditch seemed to increase among the first-years now that we knew flying lessons were approaching. The first-year boys especially seemed to share their so-called 'flying adventures' with anyone who would listen. Tales of all kinds wove their way around the room, spreading from table to table regardless of House. While I would give some of them the benefit of the doubt and believe they had been on brooms before, specifically the ones from wizarding families, I highly doubted some of them had to dodge Muggles in helicopters, *cough cough* Draco, or something about a thing called a hang-glider, *cough cough* Weasley. Wizarding families would never allow such things to occur because of the Statute of Secrecy. It would be irresponsible to allow a young child to fly around Muggles and risk being seen or hurt.

The Quidditch and flying talk was the worst on Thursday morning, and I will admit I did take part in most of it. Though I had little to no experience with flying, thanks to Carlisle and Dustin I had a very good understanding about how the game worked and plenty of knowledge about the popular Quidditch teams.

Daphne and I did share a nice laugh when we spotted Granger actually trying to learn to fly from a book and spouting 'tips' she learned from Quidditch through the Ages. Poor Neville seemed to be the most visibly nervous about the lesson and was hanging onto her every word. Though it pained me to say it, Neville was extraordinarily clumsy, and the thought of him on a broom in the air made me more than a little nervous. He caused many accidents in classes through both magical and physical means. The poor boy had been teased for it a lot already from my own House, even with me subtly running interference.

The post then arrived for the day. I received another letter from the twins, which I set aside for later, and a package of sweets from Zimpsy. Daphne also received a letter from home, most likely from her younger sister, who seemed to miss Daphne a lot. We were packing up our things to leave when a commotion at the Gryffindor table grabbed our attention.

Draco seemed to be holding something in his hand while Potter and Weasley had jumped to their feet, looking like they were ready to fight. Draco just loved to mess with the Gryffindors – a bit too much for my taste. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall appeared quickly to stop whatever was about to happen. We heard several minutes later that Draco had picked up Neville's Remembrall 'to just look at it' and Potter and Weasley had sprung into action headfirst. Thankfully nothing further came of the situation, as Draco had quickly dropped the Remembrall back to Neville and walked away with Crabbe and Goyle following behind.

I heard Theo sigh from across the table, "Honestly, Draco takes this rivalry between our Houses too seriously. I hope he learns to be subtler or else he will lose us House points; and Snape won't be happy, even if it’s him."

“Why would it matter if it’s Draco?” I curiously asked. I had always wondered the reason behind Professor Snape’s blatant favoritism towards Draco.

“Oh right, you wouldn’t know,” Blaise replied. “But Draco is Snape’s godson. Apparently, Draco’s father and Snape were close friends when they were in school.”

Oh, that actually made sense. No wonder Draco was ‘so perfect’ at potions; Professor Snape probably gave him some introductory lessons before Hogwarts. Anyways back to the issue of Draco losing us House points. Personally, I thought to let Draco make his own mistakes. We weren’t exactly friends in the first place, so as long as he didn’t cost us House points, I had no problem enjoying the entertainment. Daphne, Blaise, Theo, and I all then left the Great Hall for our first class, all of us greatly anticipating our first flying lesson later that afternoon.

After being released from our last class of the day a bit before three-thirty, the Slytherin first-years all gathered on the grounds for our first flying lesson. It was a nice and breezy day – the perfect day to learn how to fly. We were there before the Gryffindors and so got first pick of the twenty brooms lined up on the ground. We all quickly gathered on one side and waited for the rest of the class to finally arrive.

The Gryffindors all barely made it on time, borderline late, and gathered along the opposite line of brooms, facing us. Our professor, Madam Hooch, then arrived. She had short grey hair and piercing amber eyes that sort of reminded me of Papa's hawk (her eyes and gaze that was). "Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

I stepped up to the broom in front of me. It was old looking and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. These did not look safe enough to learn how to fly for the first time.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say ‘Up’!"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

My broom jumped into my hand almost instantly. I looked around and it was one of the few that did; only Draco's, Blaise's, and Potter's did the same. Most everyone's seemed to at least be twitching, except Neville's, whose broom hadn't moved at all. Once everyone had their brooms in hand, Madam Hooch showed us how to mount our brooms without sliding off the end. She walked up and down the rows checking and correcting our grips. Turned out Draco had been doing it wrong all this time. That had to be embarrassing after all the boasting he did earlier, I thought as the Gryffindors giggled at his expense.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you will kick off from the ground hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle. Three. Two."

But Neville in his nervous, jumpy state pushed off the ground hard before the whistle had even touched Madam Hooch's lips. "Come back, boy!" she shouted at him. But Neville was quickly rising straight up until he was about twenty feet in the air. I gasped when he suddenly slipped off the broom. He kept falling and then *thud* *crack* – Neville landed face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick never came back down, but I stopped paying attention to it.

I tried to run to Neville to see if he was all right with Madam Hooch, but Daphne saw me move before anyone and grabbed my arm to hold me back. "Going to him will just make it worse for both of you," she whispered in my ear, glancing at our schoolmates in scarlet and then at our fellow Slytherins. She was right, I knew. I couldn't believe I acted without thinking; that wasn't like me at all.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face almost as white as his. "Broken wrist," I heard her mutter. "Come on, Longbottom, it’s all right. Up you get." She turned back to the rest of us. "None of you is to move while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are, or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch." She turned back to Neville. "Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked and clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him to keep him moving. Once they were out of earshot, Draco burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" he teased as he looked over at our classmates. The other Slytherins joined in, including Daphne (though I could tell her laughter was fake and slightly uncomfortable). She elbowed me in the stomach, and I managed to force out a giggle that sounded strained to even my own ears. Thankfully, none of the other Slytherins seemed to notice either of us.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped one of the female Gryffindors. She was one of the Patil twins, I remembered, but I couldn't recall which one she was. All I could recall was that her sister was in Ravenclaw.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" sneered Parkinson. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati." Oh, so she was Parvati Patil. She gave up trying to defend Neville, her face blushing red from embarrassment.

"Look!" said Draco suddenly, darting forward to snatch something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give it here, Malfoy," commanded Potter, speaking up for the first time. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Draco smiled nastily. He had a gleam in his eye that I didn't like. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect. How about…up a tree?"

"Give it here!" yelled Potter, lunging forward to grab for it. But Draco had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off, the Remembrall tightly in his hand.

It appeared Draco hadn't been lying earlier; he could fly very well (probably to Potter’s disappointment). He easily hovered level with the topmost branches of a nearby tree and called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Potter took Draco's taunt and grabbed his broom. "No!" shouted Granger, trying to hold him back. "Madam Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all into trouble." She had said nothing when Draco started flying, so why did she care so much about Potter following suit? Unless she was only concerned with House Points. I suppose that if she had said something, she would have been ridiculed and then ignored, so I guess it was best that she had kept her mouth shut.

Potter ignored her as he mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground, soaring up into the air. _Incroyable_! Potter was a natural on a broom, seeming as though he had grown up riding on one. The other girls and I all gasped in amazement, while Weasley whooped for him, sparking giggles from the Gryffindor girls around him (I had never really noticed how annoyingly giggly they were before today). Draco and Potter faced each other mid-air, hovering as still as possible and waiting for the other to make a move. Suddenly, Potter charged at Draco, who just barely managed to move out of the way. Potter made a sharp about-face, keeping steady on his broom the whole time. Some of the Gryffindors were clapping at this.

I heard Draco shout, "Catch it if you can, then!" and he threw the Remembrall high into the air, and soon it was falling fast towards the ground. Potter sprang into action and pointed his broom down, diving at high speed toward the falling ball. I heard a few people scream, but my eyes were fixed on Potter.

Please don't get hurt, Harry…

About a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight and drop gently off it and onto the grass. Cheers erupted but were soon silenced by the presence of a black-haired woman in long black robes.

"Harry Potter!" Potter and a few others flinched at Professor McGonagall's shout as she came running towards us all. "Never in all my time at Hogwarts- " Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock. "How dare you…might have broken your neck."

"It wasn't his fault, Professor- "

"Be quiet, Miss Patil" Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"But Malfoy- "

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me. Now," she said sternly, never looking away from the boy in question.

Professor McGonagall led Potter away, back into the castle. "He’s in for now. Probably off to Dumbledore to get him expelled. Good riddance I say, we could use less foolish lions stinking up the place," Draco sneered at the remaining Gryffindors, his fear gone with the retreat of the Professor.

Weasley's face turned scarlet from anger. He charged forward at Draco but stopped short when Crabbe and Goyle stepped up close behind Draco. Granger tried to stop him, but he pushed her back after yanking his arm out of her fragile hold with ease. "This is all your fault Malfoy, I outta-"

I stepped forward next to Draco, bringing myself to my full height and looking up into his eyes. "You'll do nothing, Ronald Weasley. You are out-numbered, and if you try anything, you'll be bluer than a flock Cornish Pixies." My words sounded like I was threatening him, but my intention was to warn him of the situation he was in. I may not like Weasley, but I would not stand for pointless fighting, especially when Madam Hooch could return at any moment. The situation was too close to escalating and everyone just needed to calm down.

Though Weasley still had his anger about him, he did step back. The rest of the Slytherins gathered around Draco, and I slipped back by Daphne with Theo coming over to my other side with Blaise not far behind him. The Gryffindors moved away from us, leaving a clear gap between the two groups.

Thankfully, before long, Madam Hooch came back from taking Neville to the Hospital Wing. Professor McGonagall must have gotten word to her, because she never once questioned us about where Potter was.

I discovered that I was in no way a natural flyer. The whole lesson I was wobbly and couldn't get very high in the air without tipping one way or another. It was embarrassing how truly awful I was. Parkinson tried to tease me for it, but Draco quickly put a stop to it, which I was thankful for (I really didn’t have the patience to deal with her at the moment). Once he saw how hard of a time I was having, he stuck by my side and tried to talk me through it, since Madam Hooch was busy with a petrified Hermione.

Soon, the lesson was over, and everyone headed back to the common room. Daphne and I separated from everyone else on the way there and headed to the library. A few corridors away from our destination, Daphne pulled me into an alcove, hiding us from the view of anyone who might pass us in the corridor.

"Daphne, why- "

She interrupted me, "You almost made a mistake earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"You slipped up. Your concern for Longbottom was so obvious a Gryffindor could have seen it.”

I remembered what she stopped me from doing earlier.

She continued, "Thankfully, I made sure no one saw and stopped you before you moved more obviously. I know you don't enjoy the bullying of Gryffindors like the others do, but it's one thing to not take part and another to oppose it so openly. What makes you so concerned about the Gryffindors anyway? They are just as nasty to us, and they’re the ones starting it half the time."

"I don't like bullying in general, but I understand what you're saying. I really do. I know the game we must play… and it's not all of the Gryffindors, just a few of them. Like Neville. He has never once done anything nasty to any Slytherin," I explained to Daphne. Internally, I thought he was also the only one who I met before the Sorting Ceremony who was still nice to me afterwards.

She gazed at me with understanding and nodded. "Okay."

I blinked in surprise. "Okay?"

She smiled at me. "It may have been a short while, but I do understand what you're feeling. It's hard being Slytherin sometimes with what feels like the whole school against you. That's why we generally stick to ourselves. You're a kind girl Esme and I admire you for it. We'll stick together and watch each other’s backs. We can trust each other with anything, right?"

As soon as she said that, I realized that it was true. I trusted her.

Daphne continued, seeing affirmation in my eyes, "You and I are different from the others, well, more so me than you. Don't get me wrong, you're a sweet girl, Esme, but you can play the game a lot better than I can."

I was touched by her words and felt the warmth of affection for her. "Don't worry, Daphne, what happened today won't happen again. I'll continue what I've been doing, after all subtlety and manipulation are my specialty," I replied with my self-assurance back to where it was.

I realized that I had been letting Potter and Weasley get to me too much and I had lost my edge. I couldn't afford to let my guard down again. I would still help Neville however I could, but I couldn’t risk myself too much yet. Right now, the only power I held was my family name – which really was not all that much in a foreign land surrounded by other prominent families. I would need to build my strengths so that if I was challenged for any reason, I would not be defeated.

Daphne and I hugged before leaving the alcove and heading toward the library. Daphne bumped my shoulder and sent me a look. I bumped her back with my eyes portraying my understanding and acceptance. I confirmed a true ally and friend today. And I vowed to not let her or myself down.

* * *

Vous plaisantez = Oh, come on

Très bien = very good 

Incroyable = unbelievable 


	8. The Midnight Duel

Esme POV

It was finally dinner time and I was sitting next to Daphne like usual. We were having a friendly debate over our favorite bands. I personally preferred the Weird Sisters, but Daphne said she could never get past their crazy hair. She preferred the all witch band Spellbound. It was starting to become less friendly, when someone sat down on my other side, interrupting us.

“Where did you go after our flying lesson?”

I turned to Draco, surprised he had sat down next to me, as he usually sat with the boys or with Parkinson. “Daphne and I went to the library to do some work. We knew the common room would’ve been too loud to get anything done.”

“Oh...” Draco said. He seemed to think something over for a moment before flashing his trademark arrogant smile. “Well, if you ever need any help, I’d happily assist you. After all, I'm the best and top ranked in our year.”

I felt insulted that he assumed I would have difficulty with the work. Instead of getting snarky (like I wanted to), I merely raised a brow and answered coolly, “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. If I ever need help with our course work, you’ll be the first one I ask.”

I could feel Daphne shaking a bit next to me and I heard a few quiet giggles. I guessed that she understood my quip, while Draco seemed to have missed the point and just continued to smile at me. 

Dinner continued on as usual; with chatter and eating. Parkinson and her posse ended up sitting across from us in order to be near Draco still. She was a bit politer than normal, most likely because Draco was (literally) right next to me.

Suddenly, Parkinson stopped talking and stared at something over our heads. She looked back at us and sneered, “Potter’s back. He didn’t get expelled or even punished going by that dopey smile on his face.”

The pleasant mood dropped as Draco turned around and glared at where Potter and Weasley were sitting at the Gryffindor table. He turned back fast in disgust. “Bet that Potter’s getting special treatment.” Draco’s scowl soon gave way to a smirk and that look in his eye from before was back. “Guess if they won’t punish Potter for breaking a small rule, we’ll have to make sure he breaks a big one.”

Parkinson began gushing how smart Draco was and so forth. Draco ignored her and turned to Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. “With me and follow my lead…as much as you can.”

Draco got up and went straight for Potter and Weasley followed by Crabbe and Goyle. They weren’t that far away, so most of us could hear. Daphne and I shamelessly watched and listened in on the exchange.

“Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?” asked Draco condescendingly, spitting out Potter’s name like it was a bad taste in his mouth.

“You’re a lot braver now you’re back on the ground and you’ve got your little friends with you,” Harry replied coolly. Interesting, looked like what happened earlier gave Potter some confidence or bravado; which one it was had yet to be seen.

“I’d take you on any time on my own,” said Draco, crossing his arms. “Tonight if you want. Wizard’s duel. Wands only, no contact.” When Potter didn’t reply, Draco continued, “What’s the matter? Never heard of a wizard’s duel before, I suppose?”

“Of course, he has!” Weasley interjected, jumping to his friend’s side. “I’m his second, who’s yours?”

Draco glanced at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up. In my opinion, neither were a good choice. We were all first-years, anyways; I doubted Draco had learned any harmful spells from his family yet. Weasley had also demonstrated his so-called spell work on the train, so I doubt he could teach Potter anything. It won’t be much of a duel in my opinion.

“Crabbe. Midnight all right? We’ll meet you in the trophy room, it’s always unlocked.” With that Draco left the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle following diligently behind.

I then understood what Draco was planning. He was more cunning than I had given him credit for. I couldn’t help but like him a bit more for it. I wondered if Potter or Weasley had figured it out. I looked back at the Gryffindor table just as Granger said something, and it appeared to be not well received.

“And it’s really none of your business,” said Potter. Apparently, they had not figured it out since they just blew off Granger and got up to leave the Great Hall.

I turned to Daphne. “I will be right back. Just need to use the washroom.”

Daphne gave me a concerned look but made no move to stop me. I calmly left the Great Hall, but once I was in the corridor, I began jogging after Potter and Weasley. I saw them up ahead in a thankfully empty corridor. They heard my quick steps coming up behind them and turned around. Potter looked surprised to see me, while Weasley looked angry – like usual.

“What do  **you** want?” asked Weasley.

I ignored him and focused solely on the dark-haired boy. “Don’t go to the duel tonight. You obviously have no idea- “

“Save it! We know you’re just trying to protect Malfoy,” sneered Weasley, ignoring the fact that I wasn’t even talking to him. “Harry will win and send Malfoy crying back to the rest of you snakes.”

“Would you just listen to me! Draco is- “

“Come on, Harry. She’s just trying to make sure Malfoy wins,” Weasley interrupted, pulling on Potter’s arm.

Really again?!

I felt my temper snap. You know what, let them fall into Draco’s trap. Maybe then they would learn something.

“Sorry Esme, but I’m not backing out of the duel,” Potter said softly.

“You’re in over your head, Potter. Just remember that I tried to warn you.  _ Marchez ailleurs, comme les fous que vous êtes _ !” I replied sharply. I turned and walked back to the Great Hall, my head held high.

I sat down in my seat and refocused on the food I had left on my plate. Looking at it, I felt my stomach curl. I couldn’t eat anymore tonight. Instead, I poured myself a new cup of tea and hoped that maybe it might help soothe me. I was wound up tight from trying to contain my annoyance, which would make it impossible to get anything done for the rest of the night.

“Esme, are you alright?” Theo asked from across from me. Apparently, I was not hiding my irritation as well as I had thought.

Blaise spoke before I could respond to Theo. “Yeah, you’re scrunching your forehead. Besides, a beautiful girl like you shouldn’t be frowning so much.” I honestly couldn’t decide whether to take Blaise seriously or not. We were eleven, way too young to be flirting in my opinion. Yet, here he was, flirting away with anything female in sight, regardless of their age.

“Keep doing that and you’ll get wrinkles. Though in your case, they might make an improvement to your face.” Parkinson sneered at me.

Internally, I rolled my eyes. Parkinson was not improving my mood and I couldn’t ignore her like I usually did. “I’m surprised you could notice a thing past that large, squished nose on your face, Parkinson.”

She gawked and turned red with anger. She opened her mouth, likely to spew some other sort of uncreative jab at my person, when one of the older Slytherins shushed her sternly, “You two girls, stop arguing. Save it for your rooms, people from other Houses are beginning to notice.”

I simply smirked into my tea as I drank it. I won this round, pug face.

Dinner was soon declared to be over, so we all headed back to the common room. Daphne was walking next to me, and we were behind Theo and Blaise; they were discussing something I found uninteresting, so I stopped listening.

“You really shouldn’t egg her on, Esme.”

I turned to Daphne with a false innocent look. “Shouldn’t egg who on, my darling Daphne?”

She sighed in exasperation. “You’re not funny.”

“Aim for the moon, for even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.”

“I don’t think that applies to humor. You’re either funny or you’re not.”

“Ah, but I do make you laugh. So therefore, I am funny at the very least.”

“Fine, you’re funny, but you’re not nearly as funny as you think you are.”

“Are you two seriously discussing that right now?” Theo asked incredulously.

“You and Blaise were being boring, so we are entertaining ourselves,” I replied, raising my eyebrows as he stopped momentarily to stare at us.

“We were discussing the effects of sour apples versus sweet apples in the featured potion in the Daily Prophet.”

“Exactly,” I deadpanned. “Boring~!”

Daphne and I giggled the rest of the way to the common room at Theo’s and Blaise’s ‘I’m done and can’t deal with you anymore’ looks that they shot at us when they thought we weren’t looking.

The rest of the evening was spent finishing our work and hanging out in our corner of the common room that we had claimed for the night. It was a nice corner, with a couch, a table with two chairs, and even a smaller fireplace with green flames. The couch and chairs were the same black leather as the other ones in the common room. Between how comfortable they were and the warmth from the fire, it was the perfect place to relax.

Being around my friends improved my mood. Potter was a  _ grand imbécile _ and I shouldn’t let his dismissal of my advice irk me so much. I would let him make his own mistakes; perhaps someday he might learn from them (I would so enjoy saying ‘I told you so’ when Potter and Weasley were caught and lost their House some points. I mean it’s not like they would actually be expelled as Draco hoped for…right?).

We had a pleasant evening together, but soon we all agreed we should head to bed. After all, we still had classes in the morning. I took the time before bed to respond to the latest letter I had received from Fain and Gérard. Apparently, they had tried to prank the house elves who worked in the garden but ended up getting bitten on their behinds by the Chinese Chomping Cabbage being grown there. They were more embarrassed than hurt, though Maman was forcing them to heal without magic as punishment (fortunately for them, they would be fine within a week).

Finishing my letter, I planned to take it to the Owlery sometime this weekend and finished getting ready for bed. Despite how vexed I had been during the evening, I fell fast asleep in no time at all.

**~Dream~**

I was running down a dark corridor. Something was chasing me, and I knew that I had to get away or something bad would happen when I suddenly came to a door. I tried to yank it open, but it was locked. I could feel that whatever was chasing me was closing in. I tried again to open the door, and this time it burst open at my pull. I stumbled into the room, the door swinging shut behind me. The room was completely dark (I couldn’t see anything at all), yet for some reason I knew for certain I wasn’t alone.

Suddenly, some torches were lit, and I could see the room. It was a large chamber and in front of me was a looming and elaborate mirror. Looking closer, I startled - the reflection was wrong in the mirror. Instead of seeing myself, I saw Harry. He smiled and waved at me like he had done that day in Diagon Alley. In his hand, I could barely make out what looked like a blood-red stone.

A voice rang out of nowhere:

**The borrowed beast lays its ears bare**

**A lullaby will lull it all to sleep**

**The planted Devil waits to Snare**

**But light is key to flee the heap**

**Strange birds are charmed to fly faster**

**Capture the one to open the door**

**The game waits for a skilled master**

**The worthy shall escape the gore**

**The Mountain’s creature blocks the way**

**Disable it or face its ire**

**The brewed puzzle comes into play**

**Logic your weapon against the fire**

**The Mirror sees all hidden desires**

**All things you yearn to acquire**

**You’ll receive not when searching for something**

**And you'll stand there forever staring at nothing**

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Harry in the mirror. He held the stone to his chest as he fell to the ground, his face contorting in pain. I had to help him! But when I touched the mirror, my head exploded with searing pain; a kind that I had never felt before.

**~End of Dream~**

I startled awake, my head pounding as if from a headache. I ran my hand through my sweaty hair, trying to calm myself down. After a while, it worked, and the mysterious pain faded. I looked around at the other beds and found that all four of my dorm mates were asleep. It was still completely dark outside, so it was still the middle of the night. 

I tried to remember what I had dreamed about that would frighten me this much. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember what it had been about; all I could remember was darkness. I shook off the last of my nerves. I couldn’t remember what had happened, so I might as well try to go back to sleep. I’d need all the rest I could get for tomorrow. 

As I drifted off to sleep again, I wondered if Potter and Weasley had been caught in Draco’s trap or if they finally got smart enough to stay away.

Bonus POV

Harry POV

This night wasn’t going at all how I thought it would. Ron and I ended up stuck with Hermione and Neville tagging along to my duel with Malfoy. I honestly didn’t want them there because I didn’t want them to get us caught, or to watch me possibly lose this duel. While Ron had tried to reassure me earlier that there wouldn’t be anything more than sparks, I was still nervous. I had no idea how much magic Malfoy actually knew. Like Ron, Malfoy had grown up with magic, he might know some trick that I wouldn’t be able to defend against at all. 

Esme’s warning from earlier was also on my mind. She seemed concerned about me, not Malfoy, before Ron made her angry. I was also curious about what she had said in French. I wanted to ask her older brother Alaric or even her sister Blaire earlier in the common room, but I couldn’t really remember the phrase she had said properly, and both Gryffindor Archards were surrounded by other people for most of the night. Those two made friends fast and were almost never alone, as they were quite popular among the older Gryffindors. Now that I thought about it, Ron’s twin brothers seemed to hang out with them quite a bit when they weren’t running around setting up pranks.

We all tiptoed through the corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn I expected us to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but we were lucky so far. We quickly sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed towards the trophy room. 

Malfoy and Crabbe weren’t here yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. We stuck close to the walls, keeping our eyes peeled on the doors at either end of the room. I took out my wand and got ready in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once.

Minutes crept by. “He’s late. Maybe when Esme couldn’t scare us off, he chickened out,” whispered Ron. 

Neville whispered, “B-But Esme wouldn’t- “

“Sshh!” shushed Hermione suddenly. Then we all heard a noise in the next room.

I raised my wand when I heard someone speak. Problem was, it wasn’t Malfoy.

“Sniff around, my sweet. They might be lurking in a corner.” It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror struck, I waved madly at the others to follow me as quickly as they could. We hurried silently towards the door away from Filch’s voice. Neville had barely made it around the corner when we heard Filch enter the trophy room.

“They’re in here somewhere,” Filch muttered. “Probably hiding.”

I mouthed to the others, “This way!” and I led them down a long gallery full of suits of armor. We could all hear Filch getting nearer. Suddenly Neville let out a frightened squeak and tripped, sending himself and Ron falling into a suit of armor. The clanging and crashing that ensued were enough to wake the whole castle.

I yelled, “Run!” and the four of us sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see if Filch was following us or not. I led the way, but I had no idea where I was running. We ripped through a tapestry and found ourselves in a hidden passageway that led us miles away from the trophy room.

“I think we’ve lost him,” I panted, leaning back against the cold wall. Neville was even more winded than I was as he bent over, wheezing and spluttering.

“I... **told** …you,” gasped Hermione, clutching her chest. “I…told…you…”

“We’ve got to get back to Gryffindor Tower,” said Ron. “As quickly as possible.”

“Malfoy tricked you,” Hermione said, looking at me as she caught her breath. “You realize that, don’t you? He was never going to meet you. Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off.”

I knew she was right, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I thought back to earlier with Esme, I bet she knew what Malfoy was planning and tried to warn me…and I didn’t listen. No wonder she got angry so quickly. She was trying to help me, even after I’d ignored her since the start of school. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I felt like a horrid person now… I just couldn’t seem to do anything right when it came to her.

* * *

Marchez ailleurs, comme les fous que vous êtes = March away, like the fools you are

grand imbécile = big idiot


	9. The Morning After

Esme POV 

When I awoke, I felt groggy. The amount of sleep I had gotten before and after my dream was not enough.

“Esme, are you feeling alright?”

I looked over to find Daphne looking at me oddly from the edge of her bed. I could tell she was worried, but there was nothing to worry about. Dreams happened all the time, I was bound to get a strange one every once in a while.

“I just slept restlessly last night. I will be fine after we get breakfast.” Daphne and I hurried into the washroom to get ready before the others awoke. We were only half way done when they stumbled in.

“Mark my words, those two will surely have lost their House 100 points at least, for getting caught by Filch,” Parkinson said in what seemed to be her default snooty voice, wrinkling her nose at the sight of her own reflection in the mirror.

“You’re so right, Pansy,” replied Bulstrode, handing the dark-haired girl her hairbrush before reaching for her own.

I swear Millicent Bulstrode had no thoughts of her own - I’d only ever heard her agree with everything Parkinson said, regardless of the topic. Though I couldn’t decide if that was better or worse than Tracey Davis, who just mutely followed the other two around. She only spoke when she had too, and I honestly forgot the girl was there half the time.

Parkinson was soon standing behind me, tapping her foot and sneering, with her hair now neatly tucked behind her usual headband. “Hurry up, Archard! You’re hogging the sink!”

“My, you sure have a lot of energy this morning.” I packed up my supplies and left, biting back the rest of my not-so-nice response. I didn’t have the energy to deal with her horrible personality this early in the morning. 

I had started doing my own hair when Daphne exited the washroom giggling. “Honestly, I find the rivalry between you and Pansy amusing.”

I huffed, dropping my arms and accidentally tossing one of my hair clips across the room, which sent Daphne into a new round of her attempting not to laugh. “She is not my rival of any sort. She could never hope to ever reach my level of perfection.”

Daphne just continued to laugh as she gathered her things and I shuffled across the room for my butterfly pin, gliding as Maman taught me to prove my point. “Perfection, are you? Need I remind you I’ve heard you sing, and I have to say, a half deaf Kneazle carries a tune better than you can.”

I made a noise of shock, purposely overplaying it. “_ Toi aussi, Brutus _!” I couldn’t hold it for long before I gave up and started giggling. Daphne joined me as we threw our bags over our shoulders and headed out of the room.

We were both laughing uncontrollably as we entered the Common Room. Theo and Blaise were waiting for us there, for once. Theo was looking at us with apprehension. “Please say that one of you actually said something funny instead of your usual ridiculousness.” 

We managed to stop laughing to smirk at him before cackling as if we were stung by a Billywig. He sighed in resignation, a hand thrown over his eyes dramatically. 

Blaise smiled good-naturedly at the other boy. “You really shouldn’t expect anything else from these two. It’s a part of their charm.” 

Attempting to spare Theo from further teasing, the four of us left for the Great Hall, talking over the events of the previous night as we went. “How much trouble do you think Potter and Weasley are in?”

There was a beat of silence before Theo answered me, “Honestly, I don’t think they will be in much trouble. They broke curfew yes, but I think Professor McGonagall will only take 50 points away each and maybe give them detention.”

Blaise, tripping over a trick stair, recovered in time to comment, “And this early in the school year, points can easily be earned back, especially by the upper years who know how.”

I felt a bit of weight lift off my shoulders, though I was still not feeling entirely awake. As soon as we dropped into our usual spots at the Slytherin table, I fixed myself a much-needed cup of tea. I nibbled on some toast as I drank, feeling much more awake already. 

The Hall slowly began to fill up as the late risers trickled in, the chatter grew louder as the school finally started to wake themselves up. Among them was the rest of the Slytherin first-years. Draco had an extra skip in his steps this morning, likely excited to discover the results of his plan. 

However, Draco’s good mood soured when Potter and Weasley walked into the Great Hall, both looking perfectly cheerful. I was shocked at their good mood. Could it be? They did appear tired; had they managed to evade Filch after all? My thoughts were confirmed when Weasley sent Draco his own smug smirk, but besides that the two Gryffindor boys seemed to be in their own little world, leaning close together and whispering adamantly about something.

Draco seemed to withdraw into himself, ignoring the rest of us, as we quickly figured out that his plan to get the Gryffindors in trouble had failed. He didn’t even respond to Parkinson’s (many) attempts at consoling him. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him; after all, he had been so sure that his plan would succeed, but to have it fail was a blow to his own confidence in himself. 

Draco’s brooding continued through the rest of breakfast and it was affecting the atmosphere of our part of the table. Everyone was uncomfortable, and no one was able to alleviate the tension. Daphne and I shared a look and quickly finished eating to hurry off, neither of us wishing to remain in the brooding bubble any longer.

We made our way out of the Hall and down the corridor toward our first class of the day. There was still quite a bit of time before our class, so we weren’t in any sort of hurry. It must have been a combination of our slow pace and the empty corridor that let him catch up to us so quickly.

“Esme wait up a second!” Both Daphne and I turned in surprise to see Potter running up to us, his tie unpinned and his dark hair in wild disarray. When he reached us, he glanced at Daphne before his gaze settled on me, catching his breath from his sprint down the corridor. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

I kept my face devoid of my feelings – confused as to why he was there but still angry at his clear disregard for my warning yesterday. “Whatever you have to say can be said in front of Daphne.”

He hesitated for a moment before he continued speaking, “About yesterday…I just wanted to say that- “

“Let me stop you right there, Potter.” I felt my anger spike as I interrupted him, adjusting so we were face-to-face. “Whatever you are about to say, don’t. We haven’t spoken in weeks and now you suddenly want to talk to me after you realized that I was right all along? I will not alleviate any sort of pity or guilt you may be feeling, have a good day.”

With that I turned and stormed off, Daphne not far behind me. I really didn’t want to hear any sort of bragging or even an apology, if that was where he was heading. I was tired of waiting around for Potter to get his feelings sorted out; if he truly did wish for our friendship to continue, then he must approach me willingly and on his own, not to talk about any sort of incident between our Houses.

“Esme, your hair is starting to spark. You need to calm down.”

I jerked to a stop, feeling Daphne run into by my back on accident and realizing that she was right. Now that I was removed from my thoughts, I felt how my magic was churning. I closed my eyes, breathing in and out slowly until I felt it settle. Then I turned to my friend who was watching me with a worried expression. “I apologize for my lack of control.”

“Stop. Esme, you do not need to apologize. I am concerned though, about what just happened…Do want to talk about it?”

“_Non_, it truly is nothing at this point. I’m fine now.” 

Daphne stared into my eyes for a bit before she nodded, and we continued on to our first class. I really was fine at this point. Yes, I was still feeling angry, but the feeling was no longer overwhelming and my magic was no longer churning beneath my skin. I did feel ashamed for losing enough control for my hair to spark – that hadn’t happened in years, not since I threw a tantrum as a child and completely lost control. I refused to let it happen again.

Classes passed uneventfully, though Granger was even more insistent to answer every question than she was before for some reason – as impossible as it may seem. (Theo and I had a theory that if she were to answer something wrong she might actually wither away to dust). Too soon for my liking it was time for Herbology, my least favorite and worst class thus far.

I honestly couldn’t understand where I was going wrong, especially in the practical part. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to complete the tasks that my classmates could, so much so that I was actually failing the class right now. Theo recommended that I’d get an older student to help me since studying with him and Daphne hadn’t been working so far, but I didn’t want to ask someone from our House because that would be admitting that I was failing at something. I needed to maintain my image, after all. Asking someone from another House was even worse, plus besides my siblings, I knew no other older students who could possibly tutor me. 

I didn’t want to ask any of my siblings either because I didn’t want to be dependent on them, and if I admitted that I was having trouble, they would talk to our parents out of concern, which was simply out of the question. Here at Hogwarts was the first real separation I had from my siblings, and I was determined to prove that I could stand on my own. Despite my feelings on being independent, I missed my siblings. I hardly ever saw them in the corridors, and I was always focused on my immediate surroundings during mealtimes, especially since we were spread across the large Hall.

It was when Professor Sprout was handing back our assignments from last week that a solution I could accept presented itself. I had received another low grade (it no longer came as a surprise at this point) when I looked across from me and saw that Neville had received a perfect score. Oh! I could ask Neville to work with me. Not only would he be able to help, but I doubted he would spread around that I needed help. Not to mention, this would give me an excuse to talk with him; though we would have to meet in secret. Between both our Houses, there were a number of people who wouldn’t take kindly to Neville and I spending time together.

As the lesson ended and we were all leaving the greenhouses, I noticed Neville walk off alone from the other Gryffindors (and the other students too). I quickly turned to Daphne. “I need to take care of something for a bit. I’ll meet you and the others later in the common room.”

She gave me a half-smile with this look in her eyes, similar to the expression Theo got when he knew something I didn’t. “Alright, Esme.” She giggled as she walked away.

I shook my head and hurried after Neville, checking to make sure none of the others were paying attention to me. Thankfully, the next corridor was empty except for a few older Hufflepuffs. I quickly caught up with him.

“Neville, wait! May I speak with you for a moment?”

He looked startled and nervous but stuttered out, “O-oh, you want to talk with me?”

I smiled at him. “I did say your name and there is no one else around here named Neville that I know of.”

“R-right. Um…”

“Here, why don’t we go into that alcove over there?” The alcove was tucked into a corner, making it seem more private, as it would hide us from people walking past. Also, it was empty at the moment. 

Without waiting for his reply, I walked straight to the niche. After a moment I heard Neville moving behind me. I made myself comfortable on the bench, leaving enough room for him to sit down as well. When I looked up, however, he was just standing there, looking unsure and nervous. 

“Are you going to sit down? I won’t bite, I promise.” I let out a small chuckle, but it faded awkwardly when he didn’t join in. 

He sat down carefully beside me without making a sound, avoiding eye contact and looking at something on the floor by his shoes. He would look me in the eye for a moment only to look somewhere else the next. Normally this would annoy me, but for some reason it didn’t so much with him. 

“I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced. I’m Esme Archard.” I decided to forgo any sort of hand shake, or Merlin forbid, any more of that hand kissing etiquette, so I simply smiled at him with a small head nod.

“I know, you walked in with me at the Sorting Ceremony.” He flushed red and avoided my gaze again. I couldn’t tell if it was nerves or if he was truly that shy. “Oh, I’m Neville Longbottom.”

He almost seemed to brace himself. Hoping to put him at ease, I continued to smile and speak gently to him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Neville Longbottom.”

He finally smiled back at me, even if it was a little shyly. Silence fell again, though it was not as awkward as before.

“It seems so long ago that we first met on the train when you were searching for your toad. Now, we’re already settling into life here at Hogwarts.”

“Maybe…”

“Maybe? Is everything alright?”

“Oh, well…you see, um…”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

We once again fell into silence. It appeared I would have to lead the conversation.

“I don’t know about you, but I have been enjoying most of my classes. Though I could do without the flying lessons; truthfully, I’m, as you say, a horrific flyer. What about you? Are you liking your classes?”

“Oh…well, they’re okay, I guess. I’m not so good with flying either…or Charms…or Transfiguration…or Potions either. I’m not really good at anything…” I barely heard him, he spoke so softly.

“That’s not true, Neville. I’ve noticed how well you do in Herbology, unlike me.”

“I’m doing okay, I guess.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “You guess? Neville, you got a perfect score on our last assignment! That’s beyond ‘okay’, that’s wonderful!” He noticeably perked a bit at my praise. “In fact, that’s what I wanted to speak with you about. Would you be willing to tutor me in Herbology?”

“Are you sure you want **me** to help you?” He finally looked up, confused. “I mean, th-there have to be better tutors, better than me…”

“Yes, I am. I’d rather have help from a friend than a stranger. You’re my only hope.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please, Neville.” I gazed pleadingly into his eyes.

“Okay…Um…would around this time tomorrow be okay? Every week, if you want.” That last part brought a flush of pink to his face.

“Yes, it would. I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me.”

He became red-faced again. “I’m happy to help, Esme.”

I stood up, still facing him with a bright smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

He stood up as well. “Y-yeah.”

I nodded goodbye and left the alcove. I walked back to the Common Room in a much better mood than before, and to be honest I knew that Neville was the cause. I felt relaxed talking with him as I did with Daphne, Theo, and Blaise. I could tell that Neville was a good one and I did look forward to our future study sessions. 

It took me a while to walk to the dungeons, but thankfully I reached the common room without getting lost once (go me!). I walked through the wall only to be bombarded with Parkinson’s annoying laugh from an emerald-green chair nearby.

“Oh, there you are Archard, got lost again?” she asked snootily. 

Aannd there went my good mood.

“Not at all. My memory is too sharp to get lost anymore, unlike some.”

“Are you calling me stupid?!” Her voice was slowly growing louder, and her face turned red as she started to screech.

I smirked, moving closer to where she was standing. “You must need to get your hearing checked, Parkinson. I never used the word stupid nor did I mention you. I was simply responding to your question.”

Pansy took a few steps closer to me. “You think you’re **so** smart, but you can’t even speak English properly! You always sound like you swallowed treacle. Ouh, waz itz thzat?

“I find it strange that you believe that **you **speak proper English when you sound like a whining duck every other word. Though I guess you can’t help yourself, not after such an unfortunate accident?”

“What are you wheezing about now! I wasn’t in any sort of accident.”

“Oh, how awful,” I said with fake sympathy, shaking my head with a tut. “To be born with that pug nose.”

Her face flashed purple and she yanked out her wand, looking ready to fire off the few hexes that she knew. I reached for my own wand but was stopped by Draco’s hand on my arm as he stepped in.

“That’s enough, you two! Pansy put your wand away!”

She sputtered out, “B-but Draco! I can’t let her talk to me that way!”

“You have embarrassed yourself enough. You almost used magic against another student, which is strictly against the rules. Just imagine how Snape would react!”

The mention of our Head of House had Pansy backing down completely. Just in time too, because one of the Prefects, Gemma Farley, barged into the Common Room, hand on her own wand pocket. “What is going on here?”

I smiled sweetly, the very image of calm, cool, and collected. “Nothing but a friendly debate. Pansy and I were discussing which Weird Sister was more talented and had a bit of a disagreement. Everything is sorted now, sorry to disturb you.”

Farley focused on Parkinson before glancing at everyone else in the room. No one moved a muscle, to avoid giving anything away. It must have worked because Farley turned her gaze back to Parkinson and me. “Keep your petty arguments to a minimum. Our House has an image to maintain.” Without waiting for any sort of agreement, she stormed back out to the corridor from whence she came.

“Hmph. Come on girls, we’ve wasted enough time as it is.” Pansy and her posse began to pack up their things to leave. “See you at dinner time Draco.” Finally, that harpy and her lap dogs left and headed for the dormitory.

I walked over to where the others were sitting and squeezed in on the couch between Daphne and Blaise, both of which shifted to the side to make room. Theo was across the table in one of the plush chairs. Draco soon collapsed into the other chair. I noticed that for once his “bodyguards” were not with him. In fact, they weren’t in the common room at all. Weird day, indeed.

Draco let out a deep sigh full of exasperation. “This day could not be over soon enough. First, Potter and Weasley somehow managed to avoid Filch and his mongrel pet. Then, Crabbe and Goyle managed to get detention after failing to do their assignments for the fourth time. Lastly, I have to deal with Pansy nagging and clinging to me every other hour.”

“You could tell her to back off,” Theo suggested, trying not to smile at the ridiculousness of it all.

Draco scoffed, “And risk her complaining to her parents? I will not risk embarrassing my father. He and Pansy’s father are a part of the same circle after all; you should know, Theo.”

The atmosphere was uncomfortable, and I had no clue how to either fix it or change the subject. I also wasn’t entirely sure what they were even talking about. Thankfully, Blaise was able to move things along. “You know, I heard from a little birdy that it wasn’t just Potter and Weasel out past curfew, but Little Miss Know-It-All and Longbottom too.”

“Who told you that and is that even true?” asked Daphne skeptically.

Blaise smiled cryptically. “Oh, ye of little faith; I have my sources.”

Daphne raised her brow, waiting for him to explain further, but he fell silent and crossed his arms, his face splitting into a full-blown grin.

“Leave him be, Daphne. Trust me, Blaise is never wrong when it comes to gossip. Besides, he probably flirted it out of some poor unsuspecting second year.”

I huffed. “Well, fortune must favor the foolish. I can’t imagine any other way those four managed to not get caught by Filch. It really was a well thought out plan, Draco.” Just because I disagreed with it didn’t mean that it wasn’t well-executed (well, almost).

Draco turned away to look elsewhere, suddenly enthralled with the artistic murals that dominated the far wall. “Next time, they won’t be so lucky. Those two will get what’s coming to them soon, I’ll ensure it.”

I didn’t doubt Draco would try again to win the feud he had started with those two, and I wasn’t too worried at this point. Yet… I felt this strong sense of foreboding; like something was coming. And I was fairly certain it was not going to be anything good.

* * *

Toi aussi, Brutus = Et tu, Brute (at least the French equivalent of the Latin phrase from Julius Caesar)

Non = No


	10. Potter Gets a Broom

Esme POV 

Soon another week had flown by. Thankfully, there weren’t any new incidents between the Gryffindor and Slytherin first-years (or Parkinson and me for that matter). My first study session with Neville had gone well. He had been a mess of shyness at first but had settled down as time went on, which I took as a sign that he was getting more comfortable around me. Even though I still felt like I didn’t make any real progress in understanding Herbology, Neville was adamant that I would eventually get there.

Last night, Daphne and I had come across an issue with our Charms assignment. She thought we pronounced the spell one way, and I another. So, this morning I had immediately gone to Professor Flitwick’s office in hopes of catching him before breakfast. We didn’t have Charms lessons today and I wanted to ask sooner rather than later, in case we forgot. Thankfully, he was there and easily answered my question – it turned out that Daphne was correct, I was stressing the wrong syllables. Professor Flitwick was quick to reassure me that it was a common mistake, though I still felt embarrassed. 

The professor and I left his office to walk to the Great Hall together. He was happily explaining the importance of wand movements and enunciations when it came to spells; my steps for once were equally matched with someone thanks to his smaller stature. We were just coming down the stairs when up ahead I noticed Draco with Crabbe and Goyle near the bottom of the staircase, blocking Potter and Weasley’s way.

“Not arguing, I hope Boys?” Professor Flitwick asked when he reached them. 

I hung back a bit, unsure if I should continue or not. I figured in the end I would be better off more out of the way than in the middle of it all, so stayed where I was.

Draco was quick to respond, “Potter’s been sent a broomstick, Professor.” 

My eyes widened in surprise. Who would send Potter a broom, and why?

Instead of becoming stern, Professor Flitwick beamed at the pair of Gryffindors. “Yes, yes, that’s right. Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?”

What in the name of Merlin…I startled, realizing that I had been staring at the package with confusion clearly evident on my face. I looked up and away from it. Uh oh, Draco didn’t look happy.

“A Nimbus Two Thousand, Sir,” replied Harry, clearly amused with the colors Draco’s face was turning; it was flashing between red and white at a startling pace. “And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here that I’ve got it.”

You just had to poke the Hippogriff, didn’t you Potter. I sighed, knowing that Draco was never going to let this go.

“Well, best be off to store it away, Mr. Potter,” advised Professor Flitwick. “The first classes of the day begin in a half an hour.”

Potter and Weasley nodded and hurried up the stairs while Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were forced to move aside politely with the professor present. Draco turned on his heel and walked down the stairs without so much as a nod to Professor Flitwick or myself. 

He was going to be in a right mood for the rest of the day. I hoped to Merlin nothing dangerous would happen. Last thing we needed was something exploding in Potions…again.

Professor Flitwick had already left to go through the teacher’s entrance into the Great Hall, leaving me alone on the stairs. I started to make my way down, only to bump into a clearly fuming Granger. She excused herself without looking my way and hurried up the stairs, likely going after Potter and Weasley. 

I shook my head with a sigh and hurried off to the Hall.

Later, thankfully other than a large amount of smoke coming from Neville’s cauldron (that was more surprising than dangerous, really), classes went by uneventfully. Thank Merlin. Now it was time for this week’s study session with Neville. We met in the alcove that I had begun to mentally refer to as our alcove. True to form, Neville was already there when I arrived.

“Hello, Neville.”

“H-hi, Esme.”

“Are you feeling alright?” I asked, noticing his face go from pale to pink in seconds. “That was a lot of thick smoke that came out of your cauldron earlier.”

He blinked quickly a few times before answering, “Oh…Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Pro-professor Snape said the fumes weren’t harmful.” He smiled weakly. “And I didn’t even give myself boils this time.”

“Well, then I’m glad you’re okay,” I replied, letting the subject drop while taking out my Herbology books and materials. Hopefully with Neville’s help, I would actually do well enough on this new assignment due next week to avoid the attention of Professor Sprout. 

We both settled down next to each other and got to work. We read the questions out loud and Neville waited to hear what I thought the answer was. If I was correct (which rarely happened), we each simply wrote the answer in our own words. If I was wrong (which I was more often than not), or even close, then Neville would explain the answer to me until I could understand it. It was slow work, but I believed that it was working. My head hurt, but it wasn’t as frustrating as it usually was, and I felt like I actually had a chance at understanding what was going on.

I also noticed that when Neville talked about Herbology, he hardly ever stuttered, and I could see his confidence grow as he spoke. It was really nice to see him happy about something, even something as horrid as Herbology. 

We had been working for a while when a thought struck me, and I decided to broach it with Neville in between questions. 

“Hey, Neville.” He looked up from the answer he was currently writing.

“What’s up? Do you need me to go over this section again with you?”

I smiled sheepishly and waved my hand about. “Oh no, I’m fine. You made it very clear earlier.” 

He sent me a curious look then, obviously wondering what I wanted to talk about and waiting for me to continue.

“It really isn’t any of my business, but I was wondering if you knew why Harry Potter received a broom earlier today?”

“Oh! Well, the whole school will find out eventually.” Neville’s face seemed to explode with enthusiasm, and he turned to face me completely on the bench. “You see, Harry made it on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team! He’s going to be the Seeker. Ron even said he’s the youngest Seeker in a century or something!” He had begun to wave his arms as he spoke but had to lurch forward to snatch his book before it fell from his lap to the ground. When he sat back up, his face was beginning to tint pink once again.

I blinked in surprise. “Okay, wow. That’s good for Potter. No wonder he was bursting with excitement through our classes today, it must be a dream come true for him.” I had been watching him out of the corner of my eye every now and then, and I don’t think he took down a single word of notes all day.

“Yeah, I heard from the others that he was a natural during our first flying lesson!”

I thought back to that day, realizing Neville was right. “Yes, he truly was. And with a Nimbus Two Thousand, he’s sure to improve quickly.”

Suddenly, the bell began to chime. As it rang for the fifth time, I realized how late it had gotten.

“Oh, I better get my things back to my dormitory. Thanks again for your help, Neville! I’ll see you later!”

I quickly gathered my things while he answered, “It-it really is no tr-trouble.”

I smiled brightly at him before turning with a quick final goodbye over my shoulder and hurried off down the corridor, just barely being able to hear him stutter out his own goodbye.

I made it back to the Slytherin common room with no trouble; none of my friends were there, so they must already be in the Great Hall. I quickly dropped my bag off and hurried out the archway. I was just turning a corner after coming up the stairs when I ran into something very solid – make that someone.

“Woah, I’ve gotcha’!”

I felt myself being saved from sprawling out on the floor by a pair of lanky arms. “Thank you and I’m really sorry for running into you-,” I said as I looked up and to my surprise found myself faced with one of the Weasley twins.

Almost as soon as he set me down, another pair of arms replaced his and I was crushed into a different body, this one feeling much more familiar.

_ “Ma petite papillon_, _ c’est toi! _Ooh, _j’ai tellement manqué à toi!” _

I could feel the air escape my body and couldn’t make any words form from the gasps of air that came out of my mouth.

“Hey Blaire, I know you miss her and all-”

“-but you’ll suffocate her at the rate you’re going.”

I felt her arms release me and I gathered much needed air back into my lungs.

“Eh, _ désolée!_ Are you alright?”

The twins burst out laughing. I guess they were holding it in earlier. 

“I can’t believe you actually- “

“-squeezed her so hard- “

“-that she became short of breath!”

Blaire and I watched as the twins were forced to lean on each other to avoid falling on the ground from their hysterical laughter.

Blaire squared herself with the twins. “Knock it off you two!” She crossed her arms and turned away from all of us. “It is not even that funny.”

One of the twins almost immediately stopped laughing and saddled up to her, leaning in close to Blaire’s face. “It kinda was, Blaire. But come on, don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting, George!”

Leaning in closer, George then said with a smirk, “Oh? Then I must be imagining your puffed-out cheeks and red face.”

They seemed to get into some sort of stare off. I made eye contact with Fred, a question in my eyes. He smirked at me, eyes twinkling with laughter and nodded in affirmation. 

I perked up with realization. Oooh, George was crushing on Blaire!

I quickly scanned Blaire’s body language and struggled to not burst with excitement – she liked him too!

The explosion of ideas in my mind to get them together was interrupted by Blaire breaking away from George.

“Anyways, Esme this is Fred and George Weasley. They’re third-year Gryffindors. Boys, this is my younger sister Esme, she is a first-year Slytherin.”

“You’re actually a little late on the introductions,” started Fred.

“We’ve already met her on the train ride,” finished George.

I decided to elaborate, figuring my poor sister could use a bit of help. “I was sitting with their younger brother and we met briefly.”

Blaire appeared surprised but moved on. “Well I’m glad you three have met.” She trailed off, then shook her head as though coming out of a daze. “Makes things easier I guess.”

“What was that?” I asked with a mischievous look on my face.

“Nothing! _ Pas maintenant_, Esme.”

“Hmph, fine. Not that this isn’t fun, but I still need to eat dinner.”

Blaire wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “This works out perfectly. We were on our way to the Great Hall ourselves. Let’s go!”

She took off and I was forced to match her longer strides. The twins were following behind us, whispering every now and then. Blaire soon filled the near silence, speaking completely in French this time. I hoped the redheads behind us didn’t notice the seemingly random change in language (judging by their continued whispering, they didn’t). 

“Alaric has found a very close friend in a boy in our year. His name is Oliver Wood. They bonded over Quidditch. I know it’s hard to believe, but Oliver is more passionate about Quidditch than Alaric.”

“Really? Good for him.”

“The way Alaric and Oliver are around each other is entertaining at the very least. To be honest, I believe they would make an excellent couple. Sadly, I am unsure if either would even be open to that sort of thing.” Blaire faded off, then turned toward me as we walked. “Who are those kids you spend time around?”

I smiled fondly. “First there’s Daphne Greengrass. I think I can safely say she’s my best friend. Then there’s Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini. Theo is really easy to talk to and quite smart, and Blaise has a really great sense of humor.” I wondered if I should mention Neville, but before I could decide Blaire continued speaking.

“I’m glad you’ve made so many friends. You seem happier, not that you were necessarily unhappy before, but you seemed simply…content at home, if you understand what I mean.”

I couldn’t respond to that. Did I really not seem completely happy back home?

Blaire once again changed the subject, pulling me into her side with an arm still draped around my shoulders. “I have noticed the Malfoy boy has been hanging around you sometimes. You didn’t mention him earlier. Any special reason?” She raised her eyebrow, however it seemed to be more humorous, as though she was mentally laughing at Draco’s actions as opposed to being serious.

I thought about how best to phrase this for Blaire. “I wouldn’t necessarily call Draco a close friend, not like the others. But he is more of a friend than the others in my year – somewhere between a friend and an acquaintance, if that makes any sort of sense.”

Blaire made a humming noise and mumbled something I couldn’t catch. I wondered what she was thinking, but before I could ask, we had reached the Great Hall. Blaire quickly hugged me goodbye in the doorway with a promise to talk further another time. 

I walked to where I saw Daphne, Theo, and Blaise were sitting, determined to hold Blaire to her promise. Having my own life was nice and all, and Daphne really had become someone I could talk to about things; but I missed my siblings. I couldn’t wait for the next time to accidentally run into them, which seemed to be much rarer than I had previously hoped. We should set up a time we could spend together, just the five of us.

I sat down and overheard Draco complaining to everyone that Potter now had his own broom at Hogwarts and was once again an exception to the rules. “I heard Potter was put on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as their new Seeker,” I added as I sat down. “That’s why he is allowed to have a broom, for practice and such.”

Theo had a thoughtful look on his face while Draco launched into a quiet rant about the Gryffindors and favoritism that I quickly tuned out of. I wasn’t the only one.

“Something to say Theo?” asked Daphne.

“There is a small chance I’m wrong, but I think Potter is the youngest Seeker Hogwarts has had in a century or so.”

“You’re not wrong,” Blaise commented, reaching around me for the pumpkin juice. “A little birdie told me about it earlier, though I didn’t see how it was important. Potter may be the youngest, but that won’t guarantee he will be any good.”

“Whether he has natural talent or not. Wood, the Captain of the Gryffindor team, will surely make Potter practice to catch up to the rest of the team in terms of experience,” Daphne responded. “I almost pity Potter having to now juggle Quidditch and studies as a first-year, especially when he came from a non-wizarding household.”

“If Professor McGonagall is anything like Professor Snape, then she won’t tolerate failing grades from her House. She’d probably tutor Potter herself rather than have a failing student,” I said.

Theo chimed in from across from me, “We’ll see what happens. Anyways, Hallowe’en is in a few weeks and I heard that there’s going to be a grand feast.”

I smiled in delight. “Ooh, that sounds lovely! Back home our house elf Honny always makes these special buttercream cookies for All Hallows' Eve. I hope _ ma Maman _ sends some.”

“Personally, I hope classes ease up – or even better are cancelled,” groused Blaise.

“I wouldn’t set your hopes so high, mate,” teased Theo, shaking his head and reaching for the bread rolls.

The three of us laughed at Blaise’s exaggeratedly disappointed look. 

I think Blaire was right before. It was moments like this, laughing with my friends, that I felt a sense of belonging. I did feel content at home with my family, but now that I had friends that were my own, I felt…truly happy, and I wished upon Magic I would hang on to them for a long time to come.

* * *

Ma petite papillon = My little butterfly

C’est toi = It is you

J’ai tellement manqué à toi = I have missed you so much

Désolée = Sorry

Pas maintenant = Not now

Ma Maman = My mother


	11. All Hallows' Eve

Esme POV 

On All Hallows’ Eve, I awoke to the wonderful smell of baking pumpkin in the air. It managed to put every one of us in a good mood, even first thing in the morning. Parkinson and I didn't even argue or exchange insults this morning! I was really looking forward to this evening, as not only was there a feast planned for dinner, but before dinner I would be meeting my siblings in the courtyard for a couple hours or so. I’d seen them passing through the corridors sometimes, but it felt like it had been forever since we were all together just to talk. 

Blaire had planned it and threatened the boys to show up on time (she didn’t even bother threatening me, I was always punctual if I could help it). I had a smile on my face all morning just thinking about the wonderful day ahead of me, and I refused to let anything spoil my mood – not even Miss Know-It-All.

Charms class came around and everyone was buzzing about Professor Flitwick’s announcement that we were ready to practice the Levitation Charm. The professor put us into pairs himself, probably in an attempt to separate some of the more talkative friends so we would all focus better. I was thankfully paired with Blaise, though Theo was paired with Draco (much to Parkinson’s irritation) and Daphne was paired with Tracey Davis. I was slightly upset I wasn’t paired with Daphne, but she seemed to be doing alright with Davis; I didn’t know her that well, but at least the girl wasn’t a complete _ imbécile _. 

I looked across the room and failed to recognize the Gryffindor Neville was paired with, and to my amusement, Weasley was paired with Granger of all people. Neither seemed pleased with this arrangement, but I honestly couldn’t tell who was angrier about it. I ducked my head to hide my grin at this, hoping neither would think I was laughing at them as they struggled.

“Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practicing!” squeaked Professor Flitwick from his usual perch on top of his pile of books. “Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important too. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.”

I didn’t believe I would ever get over the irony of a wizard with such a name summoning a similar sounding animal on accident. 

Blaise turned to me with a charming smile and said, “Ladies first, _ ma ange _.”

I scoffed lightly while preparing my wand, holding it gracefully above the feather in front of us. “I am not your angel, _ horrible dragueur _.”

I cleared my mind and then enunciated clearly, “_ Wingardium Leviosa,” _ while flicking my wand in the proper movements. Our feather rose off the desk and hovered just above our heads, floating gently as I pointed my wand at it. I let it hover for a moment before letting it slowly drift back down to where it started.

“Oh, well done!” cried Professor Flitwick while clapping. “Everyone see here, Miss Archard’s done it! Ten points to Slytherin!” I ignored the various sharp looks people were sending me and smiled politely at Professor Flitwick, though I would confess I had to force myself not to look smug. I was proud, yes, but I never wanted to seem arrogant (even if I was acknowledged for finally doing something first).

Not even a few seconds later everyone was distracted when a Gryffindor boy set his and Potter’s feather on fire. I was amazed he managed to accomplish this, considering the only fire charm I was aware of was _ Incendio _ , but that incantation was nowhere close to _ Wingardium Leviosa. _I did have to admire him at least for a moment; it took skill to light something on fire when you had no idea how to do it.

The next person to perform the spell successfully was Granger, though she was obviously pouting she was not first and missed out on earning house points. It’s her own fault really, she wasted time doing nothing but criticizing Weasley’s wandwork. Her expression starkly contrasted with Weasley, who was glaring red faced at his desk and mumbling something I couldn’t hear. He was in obvious bad temper through the rest of the class. 

As Blaise attempted the spell from beside me, I glanced over at Neville, who seemed to be struggling to perform the charm. I wished things weren’t so complicated that I could’ve been his partner. I would then be able to offer to help correct his poor wandwork instead of just watching it from across the room.

Class was finally over with most everyone performing the charm correctly eventually. I waited for Daphne in the doorway and then we pushed our way into the crowded corridor. We were discussing when we would be able to work on our newest Charms assignment when we caught the end of a conversation from the group in front of us. They were far enough ahead of us that we couldn’t really see who was talking, but their voice was loud enough to carry over the crowd.

“So? She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.” 

I glanced at Daphne, but she was as confused as I was. She lightly shrugged her shoulders and I decided it wasn’t important, whatever it was. It wasn’t a Slytherin that was talking, and it wasn’t a Slytherin they were talking about, all of us had friends; therefore, it was a girl from another House and not our problem then.

The corridor thinned out as we got closer to our next classroom, and I could see Parkinson was up ahead loudly complaining about how annoying Granger was. She was probably just bitter she was never able to perform the charm properly by the end of class. I was grateful she had chosen to make fun of Granger instead of me, even though I had achieved the charm first; I didn’t want her attempting to ruin my day.

Draco caught up to Daphne and me as we turned into the next corridor, his ever-present shadows behind him as usual. “Well done earning us House points, Esme. It was nice to see Granger shown her place beneath us.” 

“_ Merci, _ Draco. Honestly though, Granger really needs to get a clue.” Draco’s talk of Granger’s ‘place’ didn’t sit well with me, but I let it go with a shake of my head. It was not like she was a friend of mine, so why should I stand up for her, especially against my own friends?

Draco chuckled, and the others joined in, though I didn’t think it was all that funny of a comment. I was just hoping Granger would figure out how to get along with at least her own House soon, not that she was ‘beneath’ anyone else.

Daphne interjected, moving things forward, “I agree with Esme, that girl might make friends with her Housemates if she wasn’t so insufferable. Just because she memorizes the textbooks doesn’t mean she’s smart.”

This time I joined the others in their laughter. As we arrived at our next class, it occurred to me: the girl that group was talking about earlier, who had no friends, could very well be Granger. I internally snorted. That made it even less of my problem. I couldn’t care less about that annoying girl.

As the day continued though, Granger failed to show up for class. I believed she had never done that before in her life. Something told me she was the kind of person to go to class even when she was sick or something, and she had seemed perfectly healthy this morning.

I overheard some of the Gryffindor first-year girls discussing that they had no idea where Granger was. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help but feel concerned. But I didn’t have the time to worry about someone I didn’t even care about. As soon as my last class was over, I quickly dropped off my school bag before hurrying up to the courtyard to meet my siblings.

Blaire and Alaric were already there when I arrived. All thoughts of Granger fled my mind when Blaire engulfed me into a hug, surrounding me with the familiar smell of her perfume. I knew we were at the same school, but I never saw them or got the chance to speak with them properly with us being in different Houses and years. I felt like I’d been terrible at reaching out to them too. I had at least been great at writing to Fain and Gérard every week, and they in turn had kept their promise to write back just as frequently.

Alaric and I quickly hugged before I settled down in front of Blaire. She wasted no time and began to intricately braid my hair, just as I did with Maude at home. It was so relaxing, I leaned back on my hands, soaking in the warm sun. The twins arrived not long after me, chatting with each other as they came. They each gave me a kiss on the forehead before settling near us to complete our little circle.

We all naturally switched over to French, not because we were trying to keep our conversations secret (there weren’t many students around anyways), rather I think we all just missed speaking it. It was hard sometimes to remember to speak English all the time. Each of us shared what we’d been up to and especially the friends we had made in our different Houses, trying to be patient but talking over each other sometimes anyways. 

“We met our cousin Ernest,” said Dustin suddenly.

Carlisle added, “Who goes by Ernie of all things.”

“What was he like?” I asked.

“He was friendly enough, I suppose.”

“Though overall he’s quite boring,” commented Dustin.

I giggled at the blunt way he said it, but Blaire didn’t appreciate it, judging by the little tug on my hair. “It isn’t polite to laugh at others, Little Butterfly.” I stopped giggling (out loud at least) and shifted to pay attention again. “And you two,” Blaire scolded, “be nice, he is family after all. Mother wants us to get along with Ernie.” Her scolding was slightly ruined by the lack of anger in her voice.

“Fine,” they said together, though Carlisle looked sorrier than Dustin did.

“So Carlisle made a spectacular dive the other day,” said Dustin with an impish smile on his face.

“Really, do you have to tell them about that? Enough people know about it as is,” our brother groaned, knowing full well once Dustin started telling a story, nothing was going to stop him from sharing it.

Dustin continued, pretending he never heard Carlisle, “We were in Divination class when Carlisle tripped and accidentally flung his pot of tea all over Professor Trelawney. It was hilarious!”

The three of us laughed while Blaire asked in concern, “Oh! Was she alright?”

Carlisle answered, looking embarrassed still and running a hand over his face and through his hair. “She was alright, just surprised mostly and well, upset she had tea dropped on her head.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. We both smoothed things over with the professor. She didn’t give him detention or take points for that matter,” said Dustin.

“I’m sure you flirting with her had more to do with it, Casanova,” teased Alaric, crossing his legs under him on the grass and putting his elbows on his knees.

“Who said anything about flirting?” Dustin asked mockingly, putting his hand over his heart dramatically.

“Don’t you even pretend. You could charm a dragon to give you its egg,” I said while rolling my eyes, careful to hold my head still as Blaire was still braiding my long hair.

“We’ve made friends with a boy in our year, Cedric Diggory,” Carlisle continued, suddenly bursting as though he had just remembered what he was going to say.

“He helped us get onto the Quidditch team, he’s the Seeker and Captain. I’m a Chaser and Carlisle’s a Beater.”

“Congratulations, little brothers. I look forward to seeing you both on the pitch,” said Alaric with a wolfish smirk on his face.

“You’re on the Gryffindor team? I thought they already had all their spots filled?” asked Dustin in confusion.

It was Blaire that answered, “There was an accident during practice and Angelina Johnson, one of the Chasers, was injured. Madam Pomfrey forbid her from Quidditch for the rest of the year and is making the poor girl heal the Muggle way. Apparently Angelina injures herself quite often during practice and games, and the Madame is tired of patching her up-”

“-so now I’m the newest Chaser,” Alaric continued proudly.

“Well, Gryffindor is gonna need all the help they can get against Hufflepuff this year,” bragged Dustin, puffing out his chest slightly as if to show off his yellow and black necktie.

“Oh, it’s on little brothers,” said Alaric with a confident smile on his face. He thrust his hand out. “May the best team win.”

Carlisle and Dustin both grabbed Alaric’s hand at the same time with confident smirks of their own. “We intend to,” promised Carlisle.

Blaire finished braiding my hair and moved so she was sitting next to me. I saw her shake her head at our brothers’ antics. I shook my own head with a wry smile on my face. When I didn’t feel my hair move, I figured Blaire did some sort of braided bun. I loved my hair, but sometimes it was nice to have it out of the way for a while.

Blaire turned to face me and asked in a louder tone of voice (to catch the boys’ attention, I was sure), “So, Little Butterfly, how are things with your crush?”

The boys stopped their debate about which team was better and stared at Blaire and me with a sort of focused interest only protective older brothers could achieve. I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment and quickly fired back, “How are things between you and George?”

Now it was Blaire’s turn to blush in embarrassment as the boys shifted their focus to her, going back and forth between the pair of us.

“What did she mean by that, Bee?” Alaric asked with an almost accusatory tone, crossing his arms with his eyes slightly squinted.

Blaire stuttered in response while waving her arms as though she could pull an answer out of the air around her, “N...nothing. Nothing at all, we are just friends.”

Alaric stared at Blaire hard. “Are you sure?”

She must have gathered her bearings because her voice was steady as she replied, “Ric, George and I are just friends.”

Taking pity on her (and rejecting the urge to say “sureee”), I interjected with my large puppy eyes for added effect, “I was just teasing her, big brother. I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

Almost instantly, Alaric lost his stare and began to reassure me that no harm was done. Thankfully, Carlisle quickly moved the conversation forward. “How are you doing, Esme? Have you made many friends?”

“I’ve been really well. I’ve made friends with my housemates Daphne Greengrass, Theo Nott, and Blaise Zabini.” My siblings smiled and nodded, vaguely recognizing the names. “I can easily call Daphne my best friend. I enjoy spending time with them and we have fun together. The only downside is this annoying girl who just won’t shut up.”

The boys laughed at my complaining while Blaire got a disapproving frown on her face, but she didn’t admonish me as she did before. I opened my mouth to share my own funny story when the bell tolled, alerting us the All Hallows' Eve Feast was to begin in thirty minutes. 

The time really flew by. As we all got to our feet to make our way to the Great Hall, I looked toward the sun as it was setting, sighing in contentment with my family around me. As we entered the Hall, we each gazed in wonder and excitement at the decorations. A thousand or so live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling, while more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins on the table stutter. I bid my siblings goodbye and hurried over to the Slytherin table, taking my usual seat beside Daphne. We talked for a few minutes as the rest of the tables quickly filled, students getting to their places just in time.

Right as the bell began to toll, the feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates as it had not so long ago (but what felt like forever ago) at the start-of-term banquet. I was reaching for the spoon to scoop myself a serving of mashed potatoes when my robe sleeve dipped into the gravy bowl. I scowled at my sleeve as if blaming it for getting in the way. 

I turned to my friends. “_ Excusez-moi, _” I excused myself to go to the washroom to clean up. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Would you like some help?” asked Daphne.

“_ Merci beaucoup, ma amie. _ I will be fine.”

I gracefully got up from the table and left the Great Hall, sliding quickly out the door and down the corridor. As soon as I entered the girls’ washroom, I heard sniffing. Since this wasn’t the second-floor washroom, it couldn’t be Moaning Myrtle (whom I had been very startled to meet just last week), so it had to be a student. Thinking I might know who it was, I tentatively called out, “Granger?”

The sniffling stopped suddenly, proving my guess was correct. I heard a muffled ‘go away’ in reply, followed by the rustling of robes as she shifted around. I sighed in exasperation while turning to leave. I would just find somewhere else to clean the gravy off my sleeve I supposed, though now it would take me even longer to get back to the feast. However, I hadn’t even taken a single step when the sniffling started back up. I couldn’t make myself leave, feeling similar instincts to when I knew my younger siblings were upset. I groaned to myself while rubbing the sides of my eyes, careful not to spread the gravy further than it already had. I turned around and marched to the only closed stall, my mind made up. 

“Look, Granger. I don’t like you. You’re an annoying and bossy Know-It-All, who can’t mind her own business. Which is why I’m guessing no one else in your own House likes you as well, despite the House Points you occasionally are able to earn in class.”

The sniffling then became crying. Through the stall door I was able to hear her stutter out between breaths, “I just…wanted…to earn…Points…so then…they…would…like me. I don’t…understand…why…they…hate me.”

Now I understood what was going through her head and I shook my head at her predicament. “You’re an _ Imbécile _.” 

“No! I study…so hard- “

“Not that kind of idiot,” I interrupted, then sighed and explained more gently, “You’re an_ Imbécile _ because you stupidly went too far and overdid it. It’s one thing to show you can do things and it's another to be a show-off. You are not and will not always be right.” I heard her take a shaky breath, so I knew she was actually listening to what I was saying. “Don’t interrupt. You need to back off a bit. For example, if someone is doing something wrong with school work, offer your help instead of just telling them what they are doing wrong. If they don’t accept your help, leave them be. If they accept it, then go ahead. Just because someone needs help doesn’t mean they will always accept it.”

I stopped talking and listened carefully, but I couldn’t hear anything. I was quickly growing tired of talking to a door, figuring that if I was taking the time to talk to her it should be in person. “Now open that door and let’s get you cleaned up, you’re missing a wonderful feast that I’d like to get back to, and I’m sure you're quite hungry by now as well.”

I heard some shuffling before the stall door slowly opened. Granger stepped out and I got a good view of the damage. Her eyes were very red from crying, and despite her rubbing her face (going by her slightly red nose), there was some snot under her nose. I forced her out of the stall and over to the sink, turning on the water. I took out my hanky and ran it under some warm water before turning back to her and gently rubbing it around her eyes and nose. I focused on my task ignoring the wide-eyed look she was giving me. 

I finished up and stepped to rinse out my hanky when I heard “Thank you.”

I glanced at her over my shoulder before turning back to the sink. “It was literally the least I could do. I still don’t like you, Granger, and if you tell anyone about any of this, I will deny it and put a dung bomb in your bag.”

I glanced up at her in the mirror and she looked worried but quickly responded, “I promise! I won’t- “ She screamed loudly, making me jump so hard I banged my hip against the sink. 

I turned off the water, as I had finished cleaning off the gravy from my sleeve and turned toward her. “Honestly Granger, was that really necess-" I caught the look of terror on her face and turned to what she was staring at. I felt my blood turn cold. There was a troll standing in the doorway, blocking our only way out.

I grabbed Granger and backed us up toward the opposite wall as it took a few stumbling steps toward us while raising its club. I pushed Granger ahead of me and we scrambled into the nearest stall. I grabbed onto her and took her with me as I dove toward the ground – not a moment later, the top of the stall came crashing down. Broken wood planks rained down on both of us. Granger let out a startled yelp at the slight pain.

I heard someone else yell, “Hermione, move!” In the chaos, I couldn't figure out who had yelled, and evidently whoever it was didn’t know or notice I was there as well.

Neither of us hesitated and started crawling to the other section of stalls further away from the troll. More wood planks rained down on us, but we kept crawling until we reached the far wall and could go no further. Since I was closer, I crawled out first, just in time to see the troll raise its club about to bring it down right where Granger was struggling to get out of the wreckage. 

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me as hard as I could, rolling us both backwards and out of the path of the club. I grunted when landing on the stone floor with Granger on top of me, but we quickly scrambled up and pushed ourselves into the far corner. I realized that Granger was gripping onto my arm tightly the same moment that I was holding onto hers, knuckles turning white.

I looked up at the troll in fear as it gazed down at us. Suddenly a plank of wood hit it on the head. I turned toward the door and saw Potter and Weasley, looking very small.

The troll also turned its head toward the boys. I could hardly believe my eyes with what happened next. Potter took a running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll’s neck from behind, clinging desperately to its back as it began to move. His wand ended up jammed in the troll’s nose. The troll started freaking out, howling with pain while twisting and flailing its club around with Potter clinging on for dear life. 

Granger whimpered in fright, her grip tightening around my arm. I tensed up and tried to think of something I could do, but I couldn’t think of anything that might be even remotely useful; I was too scared. 

I then heard the cry, “_ Wingardium Leviosa _!” The club suddenly flew out of the troll’s hand and rose up high into the air. It turned slowly over and dropped, with a sickening crack that I would not soon forget, onto the troll’s head. The troll swayed on the spot before it fell flat on its face. It must have dropped Potter at some point because he was scrambling up onto his feet, shaking his head as though to get his bearings back.

“Is it…dead?” Granger asked hesitantly.

Potter was the one that answered. “I don’t think so, just knocked out.”

As Potter took his wand out of the troll’s nose, Granger and I crept closer to the boys. His wand was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

“Urgh…troll bogies,” said Weasley, leaning away from the now disgusting wand.

I was suddenly filled with the realization that we were all alright and that Ronald Weasley of all people had saved us. I launched myself at Weasley and hugged him tightly, momentarily not caring whether or not he liked me. “_ C'était incroyable _, Ron!”

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made me let go of Weasley and jump backwards. Weasley’s face was bright red, but for once there was no anger in his eyes. A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the washroom, closely followed by Professor Snape, with Professor Quirrell scurrying in last. Professor Snape's eyes flashed with surprise when he saw me, but that quickly changed to anger, his face darkening.

Professor McGonagall was glaring at all of us, looking quite angry with her lips turning white from her piercing them so hard. As she stood there, Professor Snape moved forward and bent to look over the troll. As he got up, we made eye contact and I could see the anger still swirling in his dark eyes.

“What on earth were you thinking of?” said Professor McGonagall with cold fury in her voice. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you in your dormitories?”

I refused to break eye contact and look guilty, but her hard stare was intimidating, and I found myself looking down to the floor.

From behind me, a small voice suddenly spoke out. “Please Professor, they were looking for me.”

“Miss Granger!” exclaimed Professor McGonagall in surprise.

Granger took a few shuffled steps forward, putting herself between the professors and the rest of us. “I went looking for the troll because I…I thought I could deal with it on my own, you know, because I’ve read all about them. I led it here, but I didn’t know that Esme was here, she must have missed the announcement. If Harry and Ron hadn’t found us, we’d probably be dead. It was about to finish me off despite Esme’s efforts to protect me when they arrived.”

I glanced over at Granger in surprise before looking at the three professors, acting as if this wasn’t news to me. Even under their piercing scrutiny, I kept myself from revealing Granger’s lie.

“Well.. in that case…” said Professor McGonagall as she stared at the four of us. “Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?” 

Granger hung her head in pretend shame, her still red face making it all the more believable. I struggled to keep the bewildered surprise off my face, looking away from her and finding the boys doing the same. Here was Granger lying to professors to keep others out of trouble – even me who she had no reason to try to help. If I didn’t know better, I would think she was Confunded. 

“Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this,” continued Professor McGonagall. “I’m very disappointed in you. If you’re not hurt at all, you better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses.”

Granger left without looking at anyone else, ducking through the partly broken doorway. Professor McGonagall turned back to the three of us. “Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll and live to tell about it. You each win your Houses five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.”

I moved to leave when Professor Snape spoke up, uncrossing his arms suddenly to gesture to me, “If I may, Miss Archard is injured. I will be escorting her to the hospital wing.” Everyone, including myself, looked down to where the professor was looking to see some blood running down my hand. I hadn’t even noticed, and out of the corner of my eye I could tell the boys were surprised as well.

“This way, Miss Archard,” Professor Snape said, turning sharply out of the room. I scrambled to follow after him. Once we were clear of the washroom’s corridor, he quickly turned to me. “Was Miss Granger telling the truth? Did you risk yourself to protect her?”

Keeping my voice and face steady, I replied, “Yes, Professor. She was frozen in fear when the troll became enraged. I couldn’t very well leave her there to be killed.” 

He didn’t say anything in response but continued to stare at me, his face not revealing his thoughts. Despite my act, I was still jittery from what had happened. Also, technically I didn’t lie – I just didn’t specify which of his questions I was saying yes to, and Granger did freeze when the troll became enraged.

The Professor started walking down the corridor once again. I quickly hurried after him. Before too long, we arrived at the Hospital Wing. Professor Snape called out upon not seeing Madame Pomfrey instantly, “Poppy! You are needed, I have an injured student.” She quickly emerged from her back office and hurried over to the bed Professor Snape had me sit upon. 

“Oh dear me, was this from the troll?” she asked, carefully turning my hand over to look at both sides.

“Miss Archard was caught between the troll and a trio of foolish Gryffindors.”

She pursed her lips at him (from what I guess was annoyance) and then turned to me. “Let me see your arm, Archard dear?”

I carefully pulled back my robe sleeve and held up my arm for inspection. Madame Pomfrey took my arm gently with her one hand and waved her wand with the other, muttering too softly for me to hear. The blood on my arm vanished, revealing a small series of cuts on my forearm.

She tutted softly before saying, “Just a few shallow cuts, no need to worry, dear.” Turning her gaze to Professor Snape, she said almost accusingly, “Honestly Severus, with the noise you were making, I thought her arm was broken or she was bleeding to death.”

He didn’t respond to her comment, just continued to stare at her dispassionately. Shaking her head, Madame Pomfrey briskly walked over to the cupboard and took out a vial with a dropper in the top. I think she even muttered something about mother hens, but I had no idea what chickens had to do with anything. 

She returned and gently took my injured arm again. She took the dropper out and squeezed the top so the liquid was sucked up into it. Pausing, she told me, “This will sting a bit.” I nodded my head in acknowledgment, but she was already looking back at my arm and bringing the dropper over to the nearest cut.

I prepared myself for the sting and only flinched the first time she dropped some of the liquid onto my arm. The liquid caused my skin to knit itself together almost instantly, and I couldn’t help but watch in fascination. Madame Pomfrey repeated the process for my other cuts, and soon my arm was back to normal with no signs of an injury.

I thanked her for her care before Professor Snape ushered me out of the wing. He escorted me to the Slytherin common room, for which I was thankful, as I had not eaten dinner and was starting to feel quite famished at this point.

We were almost to the doorway when Professor Snape said to me, “Don’t let this happen again.”

“Don’t worry Professor, I’ll leave the rash heroics to the Gryffindors.” He smirked back while releasing a quick breath of amusement. 

We soon arrived at the entrance and he whispered the password, then directed me through the passage ahead of him. Inside the common room I saw Farley attempting to placate my worried looking friends. Many others were eating at the various tables set up in the common room, my stomach grumbling slightly at the sight.

All conversation ceased when everyone noticed Professor Snape, and I tried to make myself as small as possible beside him. I was suddenly aware that my face most likely had dirt on it, and my hair was not as nice as it had been just a few hours previously (though Blaire was nothing if not good – the braided bun was still firmly in place). “The troll has been handled. Classes will resume as normal in the morning; all students are still confined to the common room for the remainder of the night. As you were.” With his announcement over, the Professor turned and stalked out of the common room. 

Various people looked at me briefly before the conversations and eating resumed. I moved over to my friends, only to collide with Daphne as she moved to give me a hug. I was startled at the contact but squeezed her back lightly before letting go. I hadn’t realized that they would be this worried about me. “I am alright, I promise.”

Daphne pulled me over to the table where our friends were already sitting with several plates of untouched food. I settled down into the available seat they saved for me and lightly dug into the dishes. I was the first to break the silence. “What happened after I left?”

Draco was the one to respond. “You were gone for only a few minutes or so when the blundering fool Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, looking a right mess and reeking of fear. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him as he yelled brokenly about a troll being in the dungeons before fainting flat on his face in the middle of the Hall.”

Daphne jumped in. “Everyone began screaming in panic. Some ran for the door to escape while others stood frozen. The Headmaster was able to establish order and had the Prefects escort each House to their dormitory while all the professors went to the dungeons.”

Blaise continued, “We were taken this roundabout way through a secret passage behind a tapestry to reach the entrance in an effort to avoid the troll. We all had to remain completely silent and walked in pairs, it was awful.”

“We tried to tell the prefects you were missing, but they would only hush us,” Theo said, reaching around me for a bread roll. “It wasn’t until we got to the common room that they finally listened, but by then it was too late for them to do anything since no one was allowed to leave; it was considered too dangerous since we didn’t know where the troll was or if it was still in the dungeons.”

“We were so worried that you unknowingly ran into the troll and were hurt or even killed,” stated Daphne, her face showing more worry than I had expected.

“Now what happened on your end?” asked Draco.

I explained what happened – the true version because I refused to lie to my friends, but with Draco there I did leave out a few details.

“I came upon Granger crying in the girls’ washroom, and I was about to leave when the troll entered. I moved away from it but ended up trapped in the stalls. It destroyed most of the washroom swinging its club at me and a screaming Granger, who is completely unhelpful in a crisis in case you were wondering. Potter and Weasley showed up looking for Granger and distracted it. Weasley managed to cast the Levitation Charm on its club and knocked it out just before the professors arrived. Granger lied about the incident to protect Potter and Weasley from trouble. She lost Gryffindor five points, while Potter and Weasley were each awarded five points for sheer dumb luck in knocking the troll out. I was awarded five points as well for my trouble.” 

Draco made a disgusted face and sneered, “Of course those three fools were involved.”

“Were you hurt?” Daphne asked, scanning me for possible injuries.

I chose to ignore Draco’s comment and replied to Daphne, “I was scraped a bit along my arms, but Professor Snape took me to Madame Pomfrey. She took care of me.” I pulled up my sleeves and showed them my arm. “See, there aren’t even any scars, you can’t tell anything ever happened. I’m honestly fine.”

With nothing else to really talk about, Draco went on about how he thought Weasley and Potter set the troll loose for a chance to earn points by fighting it. The rest of us just let him rant, none of us taking his words to heart since they were so unrealistic; though I did remind Draco that Slytherin earned the same amount of points as Gryffindor in the end from the incident. That seemed to placate him, so we focused on eating the rest of our dinner and dessert.

As the events from earlier finally caught up to me, I felt tired and drained of all energy. I excused myself early and headed to bed. My friends were not surprised by my choice and left me alone, happy that I was safe.

After a quick shower, I laid in bed staring up at my green canopy but more focused on my thoughts than on what I was seeing. I was amazed at the course of this day, and I wondered if Professor Snape would be informing my parents of what had happened. I sat up as panic seized me at the thought of them wanting to pull me out of school. Merlin, I hoped that wouldn’t happen; I didn’t want to leave! Though if Professor Snape didn’t inform them, Blaire and Alaric would, unless they didn’t hear about what occurred…nonsense they would hear about it. Something like this would not fall through the cracks of the school gossipers. I prayed Maman and Papa wouldn’t react too badly. Perhaps I ought to say something to them first, so they got the (mostly) true story…

I finally managed to calm my racing heart and drift off to sleep with one final thought – perhaps Ronald and Hermione weren’t so terrible after all…

* * *

Imbécile = Idiot

Ma ange = My angel

Horrible dragueur = You horrible flirt (male)

Merci = Thank you

Excusez-moi = Excuse me

Merci beaucoup = Thank you very much

Ma amie = My friend (female)

C'était incroyable = That was incredible

* * *

Extra POV 

Hermione POV 

Ronald’s hateful words had hurt, much more than they should’ve. It just brought up everything I had felt back at school when the other kids would tease and exclude me for being different. I had thought I had finally found a place where I would fit in, but even here I was an outcast. I tried so hard and I just didn’t understand why everything had to be so difficult!

Once I started sniffling, I couldn’t stop the tears from following. I quickly ran off to the bathroom, not wanting anyone to see or hear me cry. I locked myself into the stall and let out all that I had been holding back these past two months. I knew I was missing class, but I couldn’t stop, and I refused to let others see they were getting to me so much. I even yelled at Parvati to leave me alone when she came to check on me.

I hadn’t realized how much time had truly passed until my stomach began growling and I figured it was around dinner time. I had finally gotten my emotions under control, but I still couldn’t stop sniffling. I didn’t feel better, only lighter and slightly dehydrated. I was thinking about whether I wanted to go to the Great Hall or to the dormitory when I heard someone enter the bathroom. 

To my surprise it was Archard, and instead of teasing me further or just leaving me there, she tried to help. That was the last thing I had expected her to do – I thought she hated me, but she was nice and kind to me, in her own way. While some of the things she said hurt, they clashed with the gentle way she washed the tears from my face with her own hanky. It got me thinking that maybe she was nice but acted like the other Slytherins just to fit in. Maybe…maybe this was what the beginning of friendship felt like.

Snape POV 

I had known as soon as the troll was released that it was a diversion for someone to attempt to sneak passed that Merlin-forsaken three-headed mutt. I checked on the passage and the thing was still guarding the door with no signs of anyone being there, though that blasted animal managed to bite me the split second I was there. It was only a graze, but I did not have time to treat it, as I heard Minerva calling that she found a trail leading toward the Great Hall. The bumbling fool was with her. When I saw him suspicion entered my mind; as he had been the only one left behind in the Great Hall, if he faked his fainting, then he was in the prime position to go after the stone. I didn’t have any proof of my suspicions but made a note to keep a closer eye on Quirrell.

The three of us hurried to follow the trail and came upon a shocking scene. That four first-years managed to take down a fully-grown Mountain Troll was unbelievable and unheard of. But the shock quickly made way to anger and fear when I saw one of my own snakes there. Worse yet, it was Miss Archard, one that I had great hope for. Of course Potter and the youngest Weasley boy were involved; I bet Potter dragged her into this mess. Just like his father, always causing mayhem and destruction. 

When I noticed the blood on her hand, the only emotion I felt was anger. How dare she be the only one injured! They probably left her to be a human shield…I gritted my teeth and bit my tongue to push down the surges of anger and old grief that were coming forth. I focused my mind and the burdensome emotions vanished. 

First I would see to Miss Archard, then I would deal with the other consequences of this night.

Ron POV 

Harry and I watched Esme leave with concerned looks on our faces, I hadn’t even noticed she was injured. Though I hadn’t even noticed she was there until she wandered over with Hermione. When I first noticed her, I was shocked to see her and thought I was seeing things until she hugged me.

We soon hurried out of the girls’ bathroom ourselves, not saying a word. It was a relief to get away from the horrid stench of troll, though I hardly noticed it near the end. She was all I could smell. Even covered in dust and what not, she still smelled of flowers, especially her hair…

I didn’t think Esme would thank me, let alone hug me. Her smile was so different from her usual ones. It lit up her whole face, and I swear to Merlin her bright eyes were sparkling. I couldn’t even try to stop the blush that covered my entire face and neck. I only wished I hadn’t frozen when she hugged me and had the sense to hug her back.

I hadn’t wanted to like her after she was sorted into Slytherin. It felt like a betrayal when she was, like she was playing me for a fool on the train; like she was pretending to be nice to me while actually laughing at how pathetic I was. 

But…

Seeing her smile at me like that…that wasn’t faked, and it made my stomach feel tight and fluttery like it had back on the train. I knew I liked her, but I shouldn’t like her. She was a snake, the enemy. But when she smiled that way, it was hard to remember that.


	12. Reunion

Esme POV

**~Dream~**

I was running down a dark corridor. Something was chasing me, and I knew that I had to get away or something bad would happen when I suddenly came to a door. I tried to yank it open and felt the pull of the muscles in my arms when the door resisted – it was locked. I felt that whatever was chasing me was closing in. Beginning to panic, I tried again to open the door. This time it burst open at my pull and I tumbled into the room, the door swinging shut behind me. The room was completely dark (I couldn’t see anything at all), and yet, for some reason I knew for certain that I wasn’t alone. Knowing this, I was trying to decide if I should feel afraid (I was beginning to think I should), when torches sprang to life around me.

I was in a large chamber, and in front of me was a looming and elaborate full-length mirror. Looking closer, I startled upon realizing what I was seeing – the reflection was wrong, all wrong. Instead of seeing myself or even parts of the room around me, I saw Harry. He smiled and waved at me like he had done that day in Diagon Alley, wearing a sweater instead of his school robes. In his hand, I could barely make out what looked like a blood-red stone.

A voice rang out of nowhere:

**The borrowed beast lays its ears bare**

**A lullaby will lull it all to sleep**

**The planted Devil waits to Snare**

**But light is key to flee the heap**

**Strange birds are charmed to fly faster**

**Capture one to open the door**

**The game waits for a skilled master**

**The worthy shall escape the gore**

**The Mountain’s creature blocks the way**

**Disable it or face its ire**

**The brewed puzzle comes into play**

**Logic is your weapon against the fire**

**The Mirror sees all hidden desires**

**All things you yearn to acquire**

**You’ll receive not when searching for something**

**And you'll stand there forever staring at nothing**

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Harry in the mirror. The figure casting it was unrecognizable to me. Harry held the stone to his chest as he fell to the ground, his face contorting in pain. I had to help him! But when I touched the mirror, my head exploded with pain that I had never felt before, and everything went dark.

**~End of Dream~**

I awoke in a cold sweat with my head pounding from the imagined pain of my dream, so intense and sudden that I could almost imagine it was real. I had lost track of how many times I’d woken up like this. I knew by now it was the same dream because I had started to remember small parts of it. I could picture in my mind the dark corridor, running from something, and a strange mirror, but the rest was all blurry. Each time it happened, I tried to focus on the dream, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t force more details to come back to me. I sat in bed for several moments to regain control of my breathing, the sound of it seeming loud in the silence of the dormitory.

I didn’t know who or what I was dreaming about. I was worried about what it could mean; was I simply going mad? Closing my eyes I calmed my breathing down and opened up my senses. Rather quickly I felt my magic respond and I just knew that something dangerous was approaching. I was not comforted at all, this feeling, these dreams, they were not normal.

Daphne knew I’d been having nightmares, but I always refused to tell her what I remembered and pretended as though I couldn’t recall anything about them. However, as this dream kept repeating itself, I wondered if I should tell Daphne or Blaire about it . Blaire might just know what was happening to me and I didn’t really want Daphne to think something was wrong with me.

My thoughts were interrupted when Daphne stirred awake. I pushed my warm covers off, exposing my clammy skin to the cold November air. Fall was upon us, but everyone could feel the winter winds approaching, especially when standing on the grounds by the lake. Fires were now always burning in the fireplaces, and the house elves had set up small heat lanterns around the room to help keep the chill at bay. The common room was easily the warmest room in the entire dungeons.

The lake near the castle had become chilled while the mountains surrounding the school had become icy grey. Every morning, frost would cover the grounds, so much so that you could even see the tracks where people had walked throughout the morning. Not even the brooms were spared. Hagrid could be seen almost every day defrosting the broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled in his long overcoat, fur gloves and boots. I considered gifting him a hat or scarf since they were the only things he was missing from his ensemble. 

With the colder weather came the Quidditch season, and Flint, the Captain of the Slytherin team, had been pushing the team hard in training these last few weeks. The whole team would come back to the common room looking bone tired, usually with one or more of them with mud or grass stains. The first match of the season was tomorrow, and of course, it was Slytherin vs Gryffindor. The Slytherin team was determined to continue its winning streak and hold on to first place in the House Championship; that meant starting the season off with a win. 

Draco had ensured that news of Potter being the new Gryffindor Seeker spread around the castle, though I also heard Draco say Potter was likely to fall and injure himself. I believed a potential injury was wishful thinking on Draco’s part; if Potter made it onto the team as a first-year, he must be good (not that any of us had seen him practice, the Gryffindor team seemed determined to keep his skills hidden).

It was a nice morning despite how it began with my dream. Classes passed quickly, much to my pleasure, as today I would once again meet up with my siblings. Our last meeting was less of a get together and more of an interrogation about the Troll Incident. I had told them what really happened, though all four only cared about whether I was alright in the end. I had reassured them I was perfectly alright, though I did leave out that I had been injured slightly because Blaire and Alaric only barely agreed to not inform Maman and Papa about the whole thing.

So this felt like our first meeting since before the Troll Incident. We all gathered in the freezing courtyard on one of the stone ledges, each wearing our House scarves over our cloaks. Alaric even cast a warming charm on all our robes to help keep us warm, which felt amazing on my chilled body.

When we were alone like this we all naturally switched over to French. We received some odd looks from some passing students, but that could just as much be from the unusual combination of Houses spending time together than from the foreign language. 

With the boys distracted by Dustin retelling Carlisle’s latest klutz incident, I turned to Blaire with a mischievous smile on my face and whispered so the boys wouldn’t overhear, “So big sister, are there any boys that have caught your fancy lately?” I waited just a moment as she stared at me as if thinking on how to respond before adding, “Any…redheads, perhaps?”

Blaire’s face turned red as she stuttered out, “N…no.” With a (clearly fake) cough, she then changed the subject. “You should really see Alaric and Oliver together on the Quidditch Pitch, they become even more excitable and I’m not the only one to recognize their special little bromance anymore.”

I snickered. I would get her to admit her little romance with George Weasley soon enough, they really weren’t being all that secret about it anyways. In the end I decided to let Blaire off easy, as Alaric’s life was interesting to me as well. “Poor attempt, but fine, have it your way.” I let out a disappointed sigh before I spoke again. “You should suggest to Alaric to invite Wood to the manor for a visit during winter holiday. I’m sure Mom would love to meet him, and I’m sure she would insist we invite all our friends at some point or another anyways.”

The blush cleared from Blaire’s face as she smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll write Mother about it.” My sister now had her own smirk on her face. She raised one eyebrow and tipped her head as she looked at me. “Perhaps you should consider inviting any boy you’re interested in so that our Father and brothers can determine his worth.”

I made a disgusted face, scrunching up my nose. “Ew, no. Honestly, I don’t have any interest in that sort of thing. I’ll leave the whole dating thing to you, big sister. One of us going boy-crazy is enough for now.”

“No boy will get to date either of you unless I approve of them first,” Alaric suddenly interjected, appearing from seemingly nowhere with his head between us.

Carlisle and Dustin then chimed in together, “That’s right!”

“If any of those dirty boys even thinks of touching my precious sisters, I’ll cut their bits off the Muggle way and feed them to the owls!” ranted Alaric. It was in this moment that I was thankful we were speaking in French, as a small group of professors I didn’t recognize passed by right as he said this. 

Dustin agreed wholeheartedly while Carlisle looked a little uncomfortable. “Um…isn’t that a bit much?”

Blaire and I just rolled our eyes at them all. “You’ll do no such thing, you three. Besides, neither Esme or I are dating anyone, so you all can simmer down. Now Esme come over here, I have a wonderful idea for a new hairstyle.”

I moved over and sat down in front of Blaire with no complaints. I loved it when she did my hair. She instantly got to work while the boys switched over to discussing Quidditch once again. They now had plenty to talk about between professional teams and school teams now playing, even though there hadn’t been a single match yet. 

I could feel Blaire weaving some things into my hair and wondered what they could be. I was distracted when I heard Alaric state he was especially excited to play in tomorrow’s match.

“Someone on the Gryffindor team is going to be badly injured in tomorrow’s match,” I commented without realizing I was even speaking.

All three boys looked over at me in surprise. “What makes you think that, Little Butterfly?” asked Dustin.

I stared at the ground and replied quietly, “Just a feeling.” I didn’t even know what possessed me to say it, though I was now aware of this feeling; however, I wished I hadn’t said anything. They were all staring at me and I could feel Blaire stiffen behind me.

“Esme, I never thought you would be one of the ones to say such things about Potter. It’s rude and mean,” admonished Blaire.

She obviously assumed I meant Harry, but honestly I didn’t even know who I was referring to. Before I could say so, Alaric chimed in. “I thought you and Harry were friendly? Did something happen?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re friendly since Potter has basically ignored me since I was sorted,” I replied instantly, feeling the old bitterness rise up.

Alaric suddenly switched over to English and said heatedly, “That little prat! How dare he be so rude to you!” I could feel Blaire’s hands stop braiding as we all followed Alaric’s stare across the courtyard to where Potter, Weasley, and Granger were sitting huddled together. Ever since the Troll incident, those three had become close friends and were almost always together. They didn’t seem to be doing anything besides talking at the moment, but Alaric was still on edge.

When Alaric made the move to stand up, most likely to start lecturing all three on manners, Dustin and Carlisle instantly grabbed him and held him back, each of them holding onto one of his arms. I moved quickly and got in front of Alaric, feeling some of the twists in my hair come loose. Placing my hands on his chest and pushing lightly, I implored him in English, “Please don’t ‘Laric! It isn’t that big of an issue and I’m fine, I have my friends. His opinion doesn’t matter to me and it shouldn’t to you either.”

Alaric calmed and sat back down, the twins waiting a moment before releasing him. He looked into my eyes, I guess to gauge if I was truly alright. He must have seen what he needed because he reluctantly sank back on the ledge. In an effort to move things along I switched back to French. “So Alaric, I hear you’ve made a new close friend in Oliver Wood. Anything you would like to share?”

Sadly Alaric did not blush, though the twins looked very interested. My brother chuckled as he suddenly reached out and lifted me onto the space next to him, his leg warm next to mine on the cold stone. I could feel Blaire moving behind me to finish braiding my hair as Alaric nudged my shoulder and chuckled, “You’re starting to sound like Blaire, Little Butterfly. Don’t let her fill your sweet little head with that nonsense. Oliver and I are simply friends,” he replied in French.

Realizing they weren’t going to get more out of Alaric when he was being serious, the twins moved the conversation forward. “Little Ernie has really come out of his shell this week,” started Carlisle. “He yelled at some fourth-year Gryffindors that were picking on one of his friends, Justin Finch-Fletchley.” 

Dustin clarified, “Anyways, despite Little Ernie being the Heir to the Macmillan family, he isn’t much of a leader, more of a guard dog.”

“He was being a loyal friend, standing up to those who were making fun of Justin for his parents being, as they said, ‘clueless Muggles’.”

Blaire then interjected as she finished with my hair, “I think it’s wonderful that Ernie stood up for his friend, you really shouldn’t tease him for it, Dustin. Besides you hardly know our cousin, and the rest of us have never even met him.” Blaire then made a humming noise in consideration as she sat down on my other side. “Perhaps we should invite him to join us the next time we meet after the holidays. I know Mother is already planning on a family get together for Christmas. It would be nice to get to know our only cousin better.” After a pause she continued, “He might be lonely at home being an only child.”

Dustin didn’t look too thrilled, while Carlisle and Alaric didn’t seem to mind the idea. Personally I would like to meet Ernie, he was family after all.

The boys began to mutter amongst themselves again, so I moved over to snuggle up to Blaire who instantly wrapped her arm around my smaller body. She made a sudden soft ‘Oh’ noise before looking down at me and said, “I almost forgot to mention. That shy Gryffindor first-year you hang around in secret with –“

I interrupted her, “His name is Neville Longbottom, and it’s not a secret.”

She smiled and continued, “Well, Neville approached me not long ago asking about what you liked. I believe he is thinking of getting you a Christmas present.”

I blinked up at her owlishly, surprised as I hadn’t even thought about buying presents for my friends yet. The cold, yes, but the holidays had yet to cross my mind.

As if reading my thoughts, Blaire continued, “I suggest you think of getting Neville something for Yule, along with your other friends. It would make him feel less embarrassed or worried about what he gets you.”

I looked off into the distance, lost in thought. I wasn’t sure what to get Neville and my friends in the first place – this might take some a while. Out loud I said, “Yes…I’ll think of something…”

Any further chatter was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Professor Snape, striding dramatically from the castle with his cloak leaving a trail in his wake. He paid my siblings and me no mind as he honed in on Potter, Granger, and Weasley. He was still limping from that night of the Troll incident, but this didn’t stop him from appearing intimidating if the guilty looks the three were now sporting were any indication. 

We all looked over and shamelessly watched the interaction between the young Gryffindors and the Professor. Professor Snape really could be quite daunting, especially to those in the other Houses.

“What’s that you’ve got there, Potter?” asked Professor Snape, his voice carrying across the courtyard. 

I couldn’t see what it was, as the Professor was blocking most of my view of the three, but my curiosity flared with Professor Snape’s next words.

“Library books are not to be taken outside the school,” said Professor Snape. He thrust out his hand. “Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor.”

Potter reluctantly handed over what I now knew was a book. The Professor wasted no time and limped out of the courtyard, not looking at anyone else sitting around.

Blaire was the first to break the silence, still speaking in French. “That may be an official rule, but it’s meant to reference taking books from the library out near the Black Lake or into Hogsmeade. There’s no reason to make such a fuss about it being in the courtyard.”

“That was Professor Snape just being a bastard,” Carlisle said rudely.

Blaire was quick to reprimand him, reaching around me to swat his shoulder. “Language!”

“Sorry, Mother,” was Carlisle’s automatic response. 

We all had a good laugh while Blaire pouted – she really had sounded just like Maman just now.

After calming down from his laughter, Alaric spoke up. “I know what he meant. Professor Snape seems to dislike all Gryffindors as a matter of principle.”

I thought back to the rule Professor Snape first told us about, that the Slytherins must protect each other because no other House would. I was about to mention it to my siblings when Blaire surprised us.

“Professor Snape truly is a perfectionist. He’s always pointing out flaws in my work and when I don’t make any mistakes he almost reluctantly gives out a few points,” she complained. I knew Blaire herself disliked having mistakes of any kind in her work, so if she thought Professor Snape was picky, then he must really be.

I decided not to mention the rule to them after all, as I didn’t want to irritate anyone on the matter further. “In my class Professor Snape seems to have it out for Potter and shows favoritism toward Slytherins unless someone makes a blatant mistake.”

Dustin shrugged. “I haven’t noticed anything like that in our class with Ravenclaw. He doesn’t seem to like or hate us, only when someone fails to make the potion correctly.”

“My guess is Professor Snape has a grudge against Gryffindors and is enacting his petty revenge on the House,” Carlisle speculated. “He probably shows favoritism to his own House all the time, it’s just more noticeable when Gryffindor is involved.”

I felt the need to defend my Head of House, if not because I liked him, then because I felt people rarely did. “If that’s the case it would have to be over something serious because Professor Snape isn’t one to do something without reason. Everything he does has a purpose. Like when he makes a potion, not a single movement is wasted, and everything is done exactly so. His measurements for the ingredients are sometimes painfully specific, but he makes sure that nothing gets wasted.”

We were all quiet as we pondered Professor Snape. I knew he had a grudge, but I refused to believe that he was a bad person.

My thoughts were interrupted by Blaire. “Well, I’m properly chilled now that the warming charm wore off; this wind is truly biting at my skin. Besides, it’s almost dinner time and I’m sure we all have work to get done.”

The boys all groaned as they stood up, shaking the small bits of grass and dirt from their cloaks. I giggled at their hatred for homework. It really wasn’t all that bad and learning new things was exciting when it came to magic. We each went our separate ways after some quick hugs and promises to meet again next week, though I did wish Alaric good luck in tomorrow’s match. As much as I wanted Slytherin to win, I would hate to see him get hurt.


End file.
